Luxury London Magazine May 2019

MAGAZINE

May 2019 £7.00

JACK F OX ON U P H O L D IN G T H E FA M ILY B U S IN E SS

LENNY & ZO Ë K R AV I T Z GO BACK TO THEIR BAHAMIAN ROOTS

DABI Z MUÑOZ ME E T M IC H E L IN ’ S E N FA N T T E R R IB L E

G E OFF R E Y K E NT A JO U R N E Y TO T H E E N D O F T H E E A RT H

NAT H AN O UT LAW TH E S E A FO O D C H E F SAV IN G O U R S E AS

CO CO DÁV E Z I S

M A K I N G

I T

POP

FOLLOWING PARTNERSHIPS WITH CHANEL, PRADA AND PUMA, THE POP-INFLUENCED SPANISH ARTIST PREPARES FOR HER FIRST UK SOLO SHOW

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CONTENTS

30 UP FRONT

40 40 POP OF COLOUR

13 THE BRIEFING

44 READ ALL ABOUT IT

The cream of London’s

Inside Europe’s first

independent bookshops

underwater restaurant 24 GEOFFREY KENT

Abercrombie & Kent’s

The actor talks filming in the

PERSPECTIVES

Nightclub Tramp marks 50 years

60 FIRST PLAICE

66 THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

How Michelin’s enfant terrible Dabiz Muñoz became Spain’s most in-demand chef

French Riviera

C U LT U R E

Seafood specialist Nathan Outlaw unveils his new cookbook

of success and excess

CONNOISSEUR

Ironmonger Steaven Richard transforms a Rémy Martin bottle

48 CAUGHT IN A TRAMP

founder on his latest trip 30 JACK FOX

58 CROSSING

Artist Coco Dávez unveils her first UK solo exhibition

10 EDITOR’S LETTER

66

54 HOLDING COURT

The Beatles’ favourite bolthole

COUTURE

is reimagined as a private 36 THE AGENDA

The London Original Print Fair returns to the RA

members’ club 56 RESTAURANT REVIEW L uca Maggiora’s La Mia Mamma

72 JEEP THRILLS

Safari chic from Massimo Dutti and Micheal Kors

24

80

74 FAMILY PORTRAIT

106 T URN UP THE HEAT

Test your endurance on a multi-

Lenny and Zoë Kravitz make

disipline journey across Morocco

their screen debut together 80 SUITS YOU, MA’AM

110 THE CALL OF THE WILD

Meet the female tailors putting

The Zimbabwean safari camps championing conservationism

paid to gender stereotypes 90 SPIRIT OF TRAVEL

115 INTO THE BLUE

The suitcase essentials you

Looking for the marine Big 5

need for your next trip

120 GRAPE EXPECTATIONS

92 SOLE SURVIVOR

A vino-infused tour of South Africa’s wine country

The Northampton cobbler combining tech with tradition

ESCAPE

PROPERTY 130 S POTLIGHT

101 OUT OF AFRICA

A penthouse in the city

The latest in luxury south of

134 STREETS AHEAD

the Sahara

99

The best homes on the market

COV E R Spanish artist Coco Dávez unveils her first UK solo exhibition at Maddox Gallery Westbourne Grove (p.40)

EDITOR Richard Brown

FROM THE EDITOR May 2019 Issue 12

The discovery of Antarctica had occupied the minds of merchants and explorers for as far back as the 15th century. Yet it wasn’t until the early 20th century that the quest to reach Earth’s most southerly latitude was deemed scientifically important enough to engender an international race to the South Pole.

British explorers Robert Falcon Scott, Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson were the first to attempt the journey between 1901-04, but were forced back by bad weather. Scott would eventually reach the pole on 17 January 1912, only to discover that Norwegian Roald Amundsen had achieved the feat 34 days earlier. On the return leg, Scott and his four companions perished from starvation and extreme cold, the frostbitten Lawrence Oates famously sacrificing himself by leaving their tent with the line: “I am just going outside and may be some time”.

It was 46 years before the next person arrived at the South Pole by foot. A man by the name of Edmund Hillary made the journey in January 1958.

Like his heroes, Geoffrey Kent had become obsessed by Antarctica. Having climbed Kilimanjaro and circled Earth along the Equator, the adventurer-cum-luxury-travel-agent is officially recognised as the last person to stand at the North Pole in the 20th century.

Kent realised his dream of reaching the South Pole in December 2018 – arriving, admittedly, in a little more comfort than his historic compeers. He now invites you to do the same (p24).

In the spirit of adventure, the travel section of this issue is dedicated to the magic and magnetism of the four corners of Africa (Kent, as an interesting side note, was born while his parents were on safari, his father having been the first person to map a route between Kenya and Nigeria). Join us as we race from the Agafay Desert to the Atlas Mountains as part of IGO Adventures’ Morocco Challenge (p106); discover how Zimbabwe’s tourism industry is developing with gusto after years of political instability (p110); go in search of the marine ‘big five’ on South Africa’s Western Cape (p115); and take a slightly less gruelling tour of that life-affirming country’s revered wine region (p120).

“I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up that I was not happy”

DEPUTY EDITOR Ellen Millard ONLINE EDITOR Mhairi Graham CONTENT DIRECTOR Dawn Alford EDITOR-AT-LARGE Annabel Harrison EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Abisha Sritharan Dom Jeffares CLIENT CONTENT MANAGER Sunna Naseer HEAD OF DESIGN Laddawan Juhong DESIGNER Ismail Vedat GENERAL MANAGER Fiona Smith PRODUCTION MANAGER Alice Ford COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR Rachel Gilfillan BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE Madelyn Curnyn MANAGING DIRECTOR Eren Ellwood

- Ernest Hemingway PUBLISHED BY

RICH ARD B ROWN Ed itor LUXURYLONDON.CO.UK

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AIR

SEA

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THE BRIEFING THE

L AT E ST

NEWS

FROM

THE

WORLD

OF

LUXURY

INSIDE THOMAS HEATHERWICK’S VESSEL THE HUDSON YARD PROJECT COMPLETES

Thomas Heatherwick’s honeycomb-style centrepiece has opened at Husdon Yard, a real estate development in Manhattan. The sculpure has 154 staircases and 80 landings on which visitors can admire the view of the city skyline and the Hudson River – but the best views look inwards at the undulating copper lattice staircases that weave up to 150ft.

Photography courtesy of Michael Moran for RelatedOxford

ON THE ROAD FROM LA TO YOSEMITE, A NEW AUTO-BASED TRAVEL GUIDE LAYS OUT THE ULTIMATE CALIFORNIAN ROAD TRIP

Photographer, creative director and founder of Factor Product design studio, Stefan Bogner, has published the sixth edition of his ode to the world’s best roads, Curves magazine – with the latest issue focusing on California.

Beginning in Los Angeles, Bogner takes us via California State Route 1, the famous Pacific Coast Highway, to San Francisco. The road trip, illustrated by breath-taking photographs and helpful maps, then progresses to the wonder of Yosemite National Park before making for the glittering gambling mecca of Las Vegas. It’s then on to Palm Springs and a round trip back to Los Angeles. curves-magazin.com

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NEWS

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THE WORLD’S FIRST SELF-DRIVING ELECTRIC CAR PHOTOGRAPHER BENEDICT REDGROVE CAPTURES THE ROBOCAR IN A NEW SERIES OF IMAGES SHOT AT OSCAR NIEMEYER’S SPANISH CULTURE CENTRE

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F E AT U R E

Take a moment and feast your eyes on the future, because this may very well be what it will look like. What you’re looking at is the Robocar – the world’s first self-driving electric racing car designed by Daniel Simon, the concept designer known for his automotive futurism and vehicle designs in the film Tron: Legacy.

For such a forward-looking motor, the setting of this photoshoot makes perfect sense. Radically fresh for its time, the Centro Niemeyer in Avilés Spain perfectly complements the car, resulting in a marriage of human design and futurism.

Shot by Benedict Redgrove, whose works often focus on geometry and

vehicles, the resulting images were retouched by creative studio INK to accentuate the balance between the crafted curves of the Robocar, the futuristic atmosphere of the Centro Niemeyer and the contemporary aesthetic championed in Redgrove’s work. If the future looks this good, bring it on.

THE ROBOCAR IN NUMBERS

WEIGHT

MAXIMUM TORQUE

1,345 KG

540KW COMBINED (EQUIVALENT TO 700 BHP)

BATTERY

MAX. 840V HV BATTERY

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ACCELERATION/TOP SPEED

WHEELBASE

0-60MPH/0-100 KPH IN 3 SECONDS

2,800 MM

EUROPE’S FIRST UNDERWATER RESTAURANT THE NORWEIGAN EATERY SERVING A SUBMARINE SUPPER

The building is 34m long and breaks the surface of the water to rest directly on the seabed five metres below the water’s surface

The £6m structure is located close to the village of Båly in southern Norway’s Lindesnes region

The concrete walls are half-ametre thick and are designed to withstand pressure and shock from the sea conditions

The kitchen will be manned by a 16-person team, all of whom have experience working in Michelin-starred kitchens

A research centre-meets-restaurant has opened on the southernmost corner of Norway, offering a unique dining experience five-and-a-half metres below the sea’s surface. The £6m concrete structure, known as Under, is half-submerged into the water and has been designed by architecture firm Snøhetta. The company has used materials that will allow the building to fully integrate into the marine environment over time, eventually functioning as an artificial reef.

Inside, the 40-cover restaurant has an 11m-wide window that offers diners views of the seabed while they eat. Head chef Nicolai Ellitsgaard leads the kitchen, which serves an 18-course tasting menu made from ingredients sourced from the sea and nearby farms – although the team has kept schtum about specifics, prefering to keep the experience a surprise.

The building will also facilitate marine research, and will

welcome teams studying marine biology and fish behaviour.

The building is equipped with cameras and measurement tools positioned on the outside of the facade.

The researchers’ aim is to document the population, behaviour and diversity of species that are living around the restaurant, through cameras and live observation. The goal is to collect data that can be programmed into machine learning tools that monitor the population dynamics of key marine species on a regular basis.

Bright lights located by the restaurant window have been installed to attract wildlife to the screen, providing diners with an interesting view, and researchers the opportunity to study the marine species more closely.

The restaurant is fully booked until October. under.no

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F E AT U R E

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LUXURY LONDON

NEWS

EAST LONDON’S HOTTEST NEW HOTEL THE STRATFORD IS INSPIRED BY 1950S NEW YORK

This May will see the opening of The Stratford, a new hotel located in the 42-storey Manhattan Loft Gardens development in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Conceived by Manhattan Loft Corporation’s Harry Handelsman, the creative brain behind Chiltern Firehouse and St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, the new space was inspired by 1950s New York hotels such as The Carlyle and The Chelsea.

The Stratford will occupy the first six floors of the building, which has been designed by architecture firm SOM (of Burj Khalifa fame) and will house 145 rooms. The ground-floor will be

home to the Stratford Brasserie, an informal eatery headed up

by Soho House alumni Ben Harrington, while a second restaurant, Allegra, will serve seasonal dishes by head chef Patrick Powell.

When the sun shines, three roof gardens will come into their own – one of which will be home to daily yoga classes, and another a lounge garden with fire pits and a barbecue.

The team behind the hotel plans to bring exclusive collaborations, partnerships and events to the building – already signed up is ConBody, a workout group run by reformed ex-convicts who hold prison-style workouts.

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ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY BY LUKE HAYES

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F E AT U R E

MAKING WAVES ULYSSE NARDIN AMBASSADOR BEN THOUARD CAPTURES THE BEAUTY OF THE SEA

Having amassed more than two million photographs of water in motion, award-winning photographer and Ulysse Nardin ambassador Ben Thouard has published his first book of photographic art, titled SURFACE. Raised in Toulon, France, Thouard now lives in Tahiti, where he dedicates his time to capturing artistic shots of the ocean. Thouard’s work aims to uproot every point of reference and use light and texture to question notions of gravity and time. The challenge, says Thouard, is to take visible reality and extract that which seems impossible.

Ulysse Nardin made waves of its own in 2001, when it became the first watchmaker to construct a hairspring (the mechanism that makes a watch tick) from silicon.

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D i ve r C h ro n o m e t e r G re a t W h i t e L i m i t e d E d i t i o n , £ 8 ,1 0 0, U l ys s e N a rd i n

F A R T H E S T G E O F F R E Y K E N T B E G A N H I S C A R E E R C A R T I N G T O U R I S T S A R O U N D N A I R O B I N AT I O N A L PA R K I N A N O L D L A N D R O V E R . T O D AY, H I S C O M P A N Y A B E R C R O M B I E & K E N T I S A P U R V E Y O R O F L U X U R Y T R A V E L , W H I C H C O U N T S R A L P H L A U R E N A N D B I L L G AT E S A M O N G I T S C L I E N T E L E . I N H I S O W N W O R D S , K E N T D E S C R I B E S H I S C H I L D H O O D I N A F R I C A , H I S T R AV E L B U C K E T L I S T A N D H I S R E C E N T T R I P T O T H E S O U T H P O L E

Words: Geoffrey Kent

S O U T H

A

dventure is in my genes. I was born while my parents were on safari in what is now Zambia, in 1942. I grew up running wild on our farm in Kenya and when I would ask my father – a colonel in the King’s African Rifles – where we were going on holiday, he would reply, “somewhere we can’t drink the water”.

In 1962, my parents and I founded a safari company, Abercrombie & Kent, and since then I’ve packed a lot in. I’ve climbed Kilimanjaro, hiked to Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan and circled the earth along the Equator. I was the first to journey from the source of the Upper Amazon to where the river meets the Atlantic Ocean and I’ve been to Iraq with some special forces. I have been to the edge of space in an English Electric Lightning, travelling at mach 2.2 at 21km up, and have also been to base camp Everest. I was officially the last person in the 20th century to stand on the North Pole, after a quick swim.

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INTERVIEW

Like all dedicated travellers – and anyone who has caught the adventure bug – I still have more places I want to explore. I travel approximately 270 days each year; I’m obsessed with the Been app, which reveals that I have visited most of the world’s countries. In the next few years I want it to be 100 per cent. The desire to see the whole world is the driving factor behind Inspiring Expeditions by Geoffrey Kent, a series of trips which have been personally designed by me.

My recent expedition to the South Pole is my latest and perhaps most challenging adventure. Along with seven intrepid guests, I spent the latter part of December 2018 in this vast wilderness. For the past three years, I have been occupied with an obsession to go on a journey across Antarctica. Like my hero of

heroes, Sir Ernest Shackleton, I dreamed of getting to the South Pole. Unlike Shackleton, who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, I wanted to do it in comfort and five-star style.

When most people speak of their trips to Antarctica, they will have travelled by cruise ship from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula, a 1,300km chain of mountains and volcanoes that juts north towards South America. My expedition was to a dramatically different destination. Antarctica is mind-bogglingly big, and the area that I’m talking about can’t be accessed by cruise ship. To put it in perspective, to get to the South Pole from our base inside the Antarctic Circle required an eight-hour flight, a refuelling stop and the crossing of a time zone.

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F E AT U R E

Our group – consisting of three men in their late teens/early 20s, two couples in their 60s and me – set off from sunny Cape Town in mid-December. As we crossed the Antarctic Circle, we entered a world of continuous sunshine. We landed on the first of three ice runways (or more aptly iceways) that A&K constructed in Antarctica for this journey and got our first glimpse of the land of snow and ice at a place named Wolf’s Fang.

Here Antarctica is a high desolate white desert where temperatures in summer rarely get above -20°C and the winter average is -60°C. It never rains here and the snow that falls is sparse. With less than 20cm of snowfall a year, Antarctica is technically a desert. It is so dry that with the correct kit on, you feel warmer than on London’s streets on a particularly grim day.

It’s the last true wilderness on our planet. It’s the final frontier; the only place where a traveller can feel genuinely remote and know that their footprints may be the first. And if they’re not, well, what a club to be part of.

From our base camp in an oasis – a series of rocky outcrops amongst the ice – over the course of eight days our group flew to Atka Bay to view the large colony of emperor penguins there; learned winter skills; explored ice caves; visited both Russian and American research stations; climbed a peak in the Drygalski mountain range; and ventured to the geographic South Pole.

From the top of Mount Inspiring (the virgin mountain which our group summited for the first time in the company of Marko Prezelj, four-time Piolet d’Or winner) staring over this vast expanse of white in awe of nature at its most elemental, it’s hard to imagine the flux that this continent is undergoing. Very sadly, Antarctica has experienced an air temperature increase of 3°C – five times the average rate of global warming as reported by the

United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This heating up is causing change: perennial snow and ice cover are melting, glaciers are retreating and some ice shelves have collapsed completely. In the past 60 years there has been a loss of 25,000 sq km of ice shelf. The flora and fauna are being impacted too. In fact, they are facing an existential threat.

Emperor penguin numbers have declined by up to half in some places and the number of breeding pairs may fall by 80 per cent by 2100. One of the greatest, yet least seen, wildlife spectacles on the planet, the colony of 6,000 breeding pairs at Atka Bay is extraordinary. Two and a half hours by plane from base camp, thousands of adolescents are finding their feet and snow bathing to cool off in strong sun while their parents fish. Though unused to seeing people up close, these animals are under threat from human action thousands of kilometres away.

We reached the Pole two days and 107 years after Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian explorer who won the race to the South Pole. Amundsen had gained renown five years previously for being the first to sail the Arctic’s fabled Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific.

Standing at the designated marker at the lowest point on earth, you are able to walk around the world in just a few steps. Surrounding the marker are flags from the 12 signatories of the Antarctic Treaty that sets aside the continent as a scientific preserve.

It’s a good place to reflect on the adventure of getting here and wonder about what’s going to become of this white desert.

And finally, I have South Pole printed in my passport.

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THE LADY who gets to spend most time with Jack Fox nowadays, featuring regularly in gushing Instagram posts – sample copy: “you sweet little soul” – is a tousle-haired blonde beauty. She is not his glamorous sister in the upcoming series of Riviera, who is played by the willowy model/actress Poppy Delevingne. She’s not his cousin Emilia Fox, also an actor by trade. She’s his shaggy-haired cavapoo (a cross between a poodle and a cavalier King Charles spaniel, if you were wondering). As soon as she is mentioned, I’m offered Fox’s phone to take a look. Rosie is indeed adorable.

“She’s the best thing ever,” he beams.

So Jack Fox wins this fellow dog-lover over immediately and the rest of our conversation does little to dispel the idea that he is indeed an all-round charming chap – unless it was an exceptionally accomplished performance, which I feel one can’t discount in interviews with actors, whose very job it is to feign. However, I suspect Fox is genuine, and genuinely nice. He mentions “a big problem” with a sheepish look and I wonder if I’m going to get a major confession. The big problem concerns an addiction to – wait for it – “pizza. It has to be Pizza Express. I’m hoping that Pizza Express gives me a contract. A thank you. I should stop...”

FOX 2 1 ST C E N T U R Y

ACTOR JACK FOX SPEAKS TO LUXURY LONDON ABOUT FILMING ON THE FRENCH RIVIERA, HOW HE SPENDS HIS DOWNTIME IN HIS HOME CITY AND THE TRUE LOVE OF HIS LIFE

Words: Annabel Harrison Photography: Joseph Sinclair

LUXURY LONDON

INTERVIEW

When he is not devouring cheeseladen carbs, Fox can be found on location around the world – currently, in Bristol and Somerset for the lavish ITV adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sanditon and previously in France for season two of Riviera. So devoted is he to his dog that the production team made it possible for Rosie to accompany Fox on the six-month shoot – resulting, I would imagine, in a much happier actor.

To make it in the Riviera, declares an emphatic trailer, ‘you need need glamour. Connections. Thick skin.

Money. Lots of it.’’ Fox predicts that the show, which also stars Julia Stiles, Iwan Rheon (Game of Thrones), Adrian Lester and Igal Naor, will “kick off the summer in style. Everyone likes a feeling of holiday. It has that great ability to show you not all holidays are delightful. It’s big. It’s a show – a spectacle. Grand. Decadent. The tagline is ‘a sunny place for shady people’ and I think that’s bang on the money. It’s beautiful, corrupt.”

Noting that Scott Fitzgerald, who was no stranger to the corruption that can lie behind beauty, said he was never happier than when he was in the Riviera, Fox also posits the theory that wherever there are big yachts, there’s also normally something you shouldn’t be looking into. “Yachts are very strange-looking.”

And with that, we’re back to a non-Riviera perspective on life with a thud. Fox may mingle with the acting elite when working but he seems pretty down-to-earth in his day-to-day life. “I can’t do fuss. There’s enough fuss in the world.” He went to university at Leeds – philosophy and theology – and home is Camberwell. “I love it.” He enjoys going to watch Chelsea play and recommends the Peckham plex cinema because “it’s always full and I like that”.

He’s a “a sucker for a picnic and a dog walk. I like Ruskin and Chiswick parks. A big walk and a pub lunch. The Camberwell Arms does amazing food, and lets dogs in.” I ask what he misses most about London when he’s away.

“Family. I’m soft like that. I have nine nieces and nephews. We go swimming on a Saturday morning. I spend a lot of time with them.”

Drama, of the performing sort, runs in the family. Jack’s father, James Fox, is an actor. As are two of his siblings, Laurence and Lydia, his uncle, Edward, and two of his cousins, Emilia and Freddie. A second

Home is Camberwell. “I love it. I’m a sucker for a picnic, a big dog walk and a pub lunch” uncle, Robert, is a theatre and film producer. If you’ve seen anything on the British stage or screen in the past few decades, you’ll have watched at least one member of the Fox family masquerading as someone else.

Nonetheless, this Fox has carved out his own path, known best for his roles in Fresh Meat, Dracula, Privates, Mr. Selfridge and for starring opposite his father in Dear Lupin.

Despite his thriving career, Fox doesn’t gravitate towards the glamour of the industry. “I like LA as a place, and I really like American people; they’re terrific. But it would be hard

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to live there for a long time – like that Baz Luhrmann song.” He’s referring to Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen and the line ‘Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard/live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.’ “I guess it’s a bit like that. Stay in London!”

Wherever he is in the world, he loves going to the theatre. “Hamilton blew me away. It’s an amazing show. I have a friend in it and he’s absolutely magic.”

I recommend Hadestown in return, and he notes it down on his phone.

Conversation flows easily with Fox. We segue from brands he loves (“Breitling and Belstaff – tops. They have always looked after me. Johnstons of Elgin, and also Clements and Church, for suits”) to the Radiolab podcasts (“I’ve listened to all of them”).

Fox likes to challenge himself, that’s for sure. What piece of advice has stuck with him? “Churchill once said the definition of success is going from failure to failure without lack of enthusiasm. I really like that.” Whether he fails more than he succeeds seems doubtful, and Fox certainly does not lack enthusiasm. “Also: trust yourself.

Have confidence, not arrogance. It’s an elusive elixir of everything that can be possible. It’s got to stem from you and then people endorse it.”

With that, our time is up and Fox will soon return to the set of his “quite gothic” costume drama. The director provided Fox with a thorough 13-book reading list in preperation for Sanditon.

“I didn’t know about meeting etiquette – things like tipping your hat. The way costume dramas are, any excuse to not f**k it up! Once you have the backstory to your guy – it’s always going to make it better.”

Riviera season two will air on 23 May on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV

Left: Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses (Detail), c. 1890, by Paul CĂŠzanne. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Centre: An Unknown Young Woman (Detail), late 1820s, by John Gibson. Courtesy of Yale Center for British Art. Right: 19th Century Openwork Gold Maskhead and Scroll Cartouche Brooch (Detail), Paris c. 1890, by Wiese.

P.36

C U LT U R E MUSIC,

MUSEUMS AND

MASTERPIECES

DIARY DATES Events and exhibitions to mark on your calendar this May

P.40 COCO POP Spanish artist Coco Dávez’s Faceless portraits

P.44 PAGE TURNER The bookshops worth ditching your e-reader for

P.48 JOIN THE CLUB Tramp celebrates half a century as Mayfair’s hedonist hotspot

This Jim Lambie portrait of George Michael, dubbed Careless Whisper, recently sold for £175,000 at an evening auction at Christie’s

T H E A G E N DA YOUR CURATED GUIDE TO CULTURE IN THE CAPITAL Words: Ellen Millard

STRAND THIS PAGE, BOTH IMAGES STEPHEN SHORE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, FEBRUARY 4, 1969, 1970; ©STEPHEN SHORE. COURTESY 303 GALLERY, NEW YORK; OPPOSITE PAGE CIARA PHILLIPS, CALCULATED RISK, 2018, COURTESY OF GLASGLOW PRINT STUDIO

PHOTO LONDON BRINGS THE WORLD’S LEADING GALLERIES TO SOMERSET HOUSE Returning for its fifth year, Photo London will unite the world’s leading art galleries and photography specialists at Somerset House, as well as

emerging galleries and artists.

Alongside stands, there will be a programme of installations, events and talks curated by writer and former director of the Musée de l’Elysée William A. Ewing. Look out for talks by the likes of Martin Parr, Erik Madigan Heck and Tim Walker.

16-19 May, £30, Somerset House, Strand, WC2R, photolondon.org

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M AY F A I R THE LONDON ORIGINAL PRINT FAIR RETURNS TO THE ROYAL ACADEMY The London Original Print Fair provides an unrivalled opportunity to view and buy original prints spanning five centuries, from top international dealers, galleries and studios.

Fifty exhibitors will sell works from modern and old masters, including Rembrandt, Picasso and Matisse, as well as today’s leading artists, such as David Hockney and Grayson Perry.

25-28 April, £12, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, W1J, londonoriginalprintfair.com

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BARBICAN LEE KRASNER’S RAINBOW PAINTINGS GET THE RECOGNITION THEY DESERVE Despite being a pioneer of Abstract Expressionism, painter Lee Krasner did not receive the recognition she deserved during

her lifetime, having been largely eclipsed by her husband Jackson Pollock. That’s now about to change, thanks to a major retrospective at the Barbican Art Gallery, the first of its kind in Europe for more than 50 years.

30 May – 1 September, £15, Barbican Art Gallery, Silk Street, EC2Y, barbican.org.uk

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FROM TOP LEE KRASNER C.1938; LEE KRASNER, IMPERATIVE, 1976 © THE POLLOCK-KRASNER FOUNDATION. COURTESY NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON D.C.

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R E C E N T LY N A M E D O N E O F F O R B E S ’ 30 UNDER 30 MOST INFLUENTIAL I N T E R N AT I O N A L A R T I S T S , C O C O D ÁV E Z I S O N A FA S T T R A J E C TO R Y TO A R T I S T I C S TA R D O M .

F O L LOW I N G C O L L A B O R AT I O N S W I T H C H A N E L , PRADA AND PUMA, AND AHEAD OF HER FIRST U K S O L O S H O W T H I S M AY, T H E S P A N I S H A R T I S T D I S C U S S E S H E R P O P C U LT U R E I C O N S , E X P E R I M E N T I N G W I T H FA S H I O N A N D T H E SYMBOLIC JOY OF COLOUR

Words: Dom Jeffares

POP OF COLOUR LONDON LOOKS incredibly glum on this March day.

Drizzle spits in my face as I walk towards Mayfair’s Maddox Gallery, where I am meeting one of the art scene’s rising stars, Coco Dávez (real name: Valeria Palmeiro), who was recently included on Forbes’ list of 30 Under 30: Europe creatives.

The Maddox Gallery quite literally springs into full view thanks to the lavish bouquet of flowers that crawls up the Edwardian townhouse. Recognised as one of central London’s most Instagram-worthy spots, the contemporary space has three sister-galleries in the capital, as well as two overseas outposts in Gstaad and Los Angeles.

Awaiting Dávez, I sit cocooned in a deep leather chair and gaze at David Yarrow’s enormous monochrome photograph of an African elephant. Behind me is a 1985 silkscreen print

by Andy Warhol – Be A Somebody With A Body it proclaims. In walks Dávez; dressed in a cheery palette of red and yellow – vermillion lipstick, a matching coat and a yellow tote bag – she looks like an embodiment of the Spanish flag. We’re here to talk about her latest exhibition Faceless, a series of graphic paintings dedicated to her idols, which will go on display at Maddox Gallery’s Westbourne Grove site in May. Joining us in the gallery are Elvis, David Lynch and Karl Lagerfeld, in the form of her pop art-style paintings.

Characterised by an interplay of bold hues and simple lines, her acrylic on canvas Faceless collection demands attention. Despite their large dimensions, there is a delicacy to the works, achieved by a masterful combination of playful colours.

Luckily all of Dávez’s subjects had great hair because, as the name suggests, her series of paintings are entirely faceless. “How on earth did you do Frida Kahlo without the eyebrows?” I ask.

“Sometimes, you have to look beyond the obvious,” she replies.

Starting her creative work in Spain, she was discovered by the art director of the national Spanish newspaper El Mundo, Rodrigo Sánchez, who gave Dávez her first break. She has since amassed 140,000 followers on Instagram and worked with the likes of Prada, Chanel and Puma. For Chanel, she created chic animations to mark the 2017 launch of its Gabrielle fragrance, which was then published in Vogue Spain.

We talk about the vivid use of colour in her works.

“Faceless brings together the joy of colours and my comic side; it’s my creative engine,” she says. “Some people have an aura around them, a specific colour that expresses who they are.

When I painted my sister, she was horrified that I painted her in neutral beige tones. ‘Am I that boring?’ was her reaction.”

Given her recent partnerships, the topic of fashion naturally comes up. “I would love to start my own label one day. As an artist, I am always looking to channel my creative energy in various ways. I hated to be told what to do when I was at art school, and there was a period when I couldn’t find any authentic inspiration.

“I like to experiment with clothes. I once got a haircut wanting to look like a Japanese girl. I ended up looking like the French character Amélie instead.”

I ask why she doesn’t create faceless works of divisive political figures – after all, Kim Jong Un’s hairstyle would lend itself marvellously to a canvas, or, even better, Trump’s. “I feel that by doing that, I would be creating art for the sake of making a statement, for the sake of being controversial,” she explains.

The purpose of the series, she adds, was a joyous one, not a political one: “These are figures who I admire, and whom I pay tribute to. I always do things out of authenticity.”

10-13 May, Maddox Gallery, 112 Westbourne Grove, W2, maddoxgallery.com

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READ ALL ABOUT IT

DAUNT BOOKS MARYLEBONE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY UGUR AKDEMIR, COURTESY OF UNSPLASH

H O W L O N D O N ’ S B E S T B O O K S H O P S A R E S U R V I V I N G T H E D I G I TA L A G E , O N E G R I P P I N G P A G E T U R N E R AT A T I M E

Words: Adam Jacot de Boinod

B

efore Nancy Mitford became celebrated as an author, she was a bookseller. During the Second World War, she looked after George Heywood Hill’s eponymous shop on Curzon Street and sold paperbacks for a measly wage of £3 a week. She is often credited with putting the shop on the literary map, having filled it with her society friends while Hill was serving in the military. Today, her input is remembered by a blue plaque on the building’s exterior, and in her relationship to the current

owner, her nephew Peregrine Cavendish, the 12th Duke of Devonshire.

When Hill founded his shop in 1936, in his own words a “tiny first-class kennel for underdogs”, he set out to sell the best books available, both old and new. The store’s inaugural catalogue included a first English edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses and attracted customers including Osbert Sitwell and James Lees-Milne. Today the store is revered for its breadth of books on myriad subjects, and its ability to curate a collection of reads to suit the whims and wishes of its clientele. One customer, whose wife is

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More specific still are the likes of Peter Harrington, Maggs, Shapero, Henry Sotheran and Henry Pordes.

In these quarters it’s all about the book being owned rather than the contents necessarily being read. This is the domain of the antiquarian outlets where investors and collectors balance between passion and rationality in their pursuit of the rare or original book.

Hard-nosed investors and passionate collectors make strange bedfellows. True collectors are not investment-driven, but they like to know their items are increasing in value and they rarely sell anything as it goes instinctively against the grain unless, of course, they come under attack from any one of the three Ds: death, debt and divorce.

The top tip is to buy what you like and buy the very best that you can afford, to concentrate on a single superb item rather than the many less inspiring books. Rarity is also a vital factor. The most common question people ask is “How many did they print?” It’s all a matter of scarcity.

Books that have proved a good investment include Casino Royale, the first James Bond book written by Ian Fleming, first published in 1953. In 1998, a copy sold in perfect condition for £6,000, five years later for £15,000 and in 2007 for £27,000. Today, Peter Harrington is selling a copy in its first issue dust jacket and inscribed to Fleming’s employer, who allowed him special leave to write his novels, for £135,000 (pictured below). Similarly, a first edition of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, signed by the author and still in its rare dust-wrapper, went for a record £60,000 in 2008 and, in 2015, a version sold at Sotheby’s London for £137,000, almost double what the auction house expected to achieve.

These are hefty price tags, but some would argue that a book is a worthy investment whatever the price.

As Ernest Hemingway once said: “There is no friend as loyal as a book.”

a keen marathon runner, requested a series of books on the subject of endurance. Her gift was 300 tomes spanning the founding of the Olympic Games to fell running in Cumbria.

In the age of Amazon, the ubiquitous Kindle and the dying high-street, the fact that Heywood Hill is still going after 82 years is certainly an achievement.

From my own experience as an author a decade ago, I remember as many as a dozen bookshops on a stretch from Marble Arch to Trafalgar Square.

HMV, Books Etc. and Borders were all competing chains that offered coffee to entice me in and board games to lure me to the back where the actual books – a.k.a the less commercial items – were relegated.

It all came about from following the lead of the marketing gurus at New York’s Barnes & Noble.

Today, Charing Cross Road is a pale shadow of its former self, just as Cork Street is for the modern art world. But it’s hard not to concede Amazon’s benefits.

The choice is blatant: either order a paperback to your front door with a few clicks on the computer, or go down to the high street, join a queue and be told that they don’t have it in stock.

There are some things, however, that the online industry just can’t touch. Sure, Heywood Hill will never have the shelf space to rival Amazon, or the infrastructure to ship its tomes to letter boxes across the planet, but that’s exactly why the Mayfair shop has survived for so long. Like its neighbours on Savile Row, the art of the bespoke is what draws the crowds – even if that crowd is somewhat niche.

Across the capital, bookshops catering to specific tastes abound, from Notting Hill’s Books for Cooks to art specialist Zwemmer, Greenwich’s Maritime Books to Finchley Road’s Karnac Books, which focuses on psychoanalysis. The Housmans bookshop caters to politics enthusiasts and, in Bloomsbury, Gay’s the Word caters to the LGBTQ+ community. Daunt Books, so renowned in the capital that it has a status akin to that of Waterstones, started out as a travel specialist in Marylebone; today, it offers a variety of books from its six London-based shops.

Some have other quirks; Libreria in Spitalfields (pictured left) was founded by former Downing Street policymaker Rohan Silva in 2016 and is designed to help with the 21st-century problem of information overload. To combat this, the store is arranged not like a traditional bookshop, with classic ‘crime’ and ‘romance’ categories, but by suggestive themes, such as ‘sea and sky’ and ‘enchantment for the disenchanted’, to help browsers happen across books they wouldn’t traditionally choose. There is also a strict no-phone policy.

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CAUGHT IN A

TRAMP

A F T E R H A L F A C E N T U R Y O F R O YA L PA R T Y G O E R S , R O C K A N D R O L L E XC E S S A N D WA N TO N A B U S E O F C H A N D E L I E R S , H O W H A S T R A M P M A N AG E D TO R E TA I N I T S R E P U TAT I O N A S LO N D O N ’ S M O S T LO U C H E A N D L AV I S H N I G H T S P O T ?

Words: Rob Crossan

K

eith Moon was rarely capable of shock. But even the wildest drummer in rock and roll raised his eyebrows when, after dinner at Tramp in 1973, he was handed a bill for £14,000. Moon and actor Karl Howman had just eaten two dozen Pacific prawns at the legendary Jermyn Street club.

“They’ve gone up!” complained Moon to the waiter. “I mean, I don’t mind, but it’s a bit much.” The bill was in fact not for a few pieces of fish, but Moon’s entire bar tab for the past 12 months.

“What sort of world is this when you think a prawn is £1,000?” reflected Howman, years later.

The man who may have the answer, to this and other questions relating to the ruling elite of rock and roll and entertainment, is David Fleming, current manager of Tramp, the Mayfair byword for nocturnal decadence. Fifty years on from its opening, it remains a place where stars cavort, hedonism is encouraged

and seafood has, he insists, always been reasonably priced.

“I love the stories, but this isn’t a place that can live on history,” Fleming muses as we speak in that very same restaurant that caused Moon such crustacean confusion.

Complete with wood panelled walls and a ceiling mural with the signs of the zodiac, it’s preserved from a time when the club was called The Society which, legend has it, would welcome a celebrating Queen Mother in the 1950s when she won big on the horses.

It’s understandable that Fleming doesn’t wish to dwell too much on Tramp’s early history. But what a history it is.

Keith Moon was chucked out by original owner Johnny Gold for swinging from the chandeliers.

George Best had his membership card ripped up for attempting to start a fight with Michael Caine.

And George Michael was ejected after vomiting copiously in the club during the peak of his early fame with Wham!

PREVIOUS PAGE ROCK BAND FACES MEMBERS RONNIE WOOD, IAN MCLAGAN, ROD STEWART, RONNIE LANE & KENNEY JONES AT A RECEPTION FOR THEIR ALBUM OOH LA LA, APRIL 1973, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL PUTLAND THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT RONNIE AND JO WOOD AT TRAMP’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY, JUNE 1999, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BENETT; TARA PALMER-TOMKINSON AT HER BIRTHDAY PARTY, DECEMBER 1998, PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANTONY JONES; NAOMI CAMPBELL AT THE LAUNCH OF HER BOOK SWAN, SEPTEMBER 1994, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BENETT; JOAN COLLINS, MAY 1987, PHOTOGRAPHY BY TOM WARGACKI; JACK NICHOLSON AND DANNY DEVITO, FEBRUARY 1993, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BENETT; MICK JAGGER, JUNE 1992, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BENETT; MICHAEL AND SHAKIRA CAINE AT TRAMP’S 30TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY, JUNE 1999, PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BENETT; ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF GETTY IMAGES

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Others fared better. Staff today all have tales to tell. Roger Moore helping to mop the floor after a flood from the basement leaked into the club. Jack Nicholson going straight from a late night drinking session to Pinewood Studios to begin another gruelling day with Stanley Kubrick filming The Shining. And Mel Brooks crawling around the club on his hands and knees and, the story goes, barking like a dog.

Throughout it all Tramp has changed little. A discreet bronze sign is the only indication that one of the most notorious clubs in London lies beyond a dark blue set of doors. These lead to a staircase carpeted in racing green, beyond which lie a dancefloor, restaurant, bar and smoking terrace.

Small it may be, but this is a space that packs a wildly disproportionate punch when it comes to reputation and fame.

Half a century on from opening night in December 1969, I ask Fleming, a stocky 55-year-old Scot who has been at Tramp for 17 years (and has been general manager for the past four) if, in reality, the club is really little more than a few rooms where obnoxious behaviour is allowed free rein.

“No, not at all,” he retorts. “People are actually surprisingly well behaved in here. Stars are definitely more discreet now and also look after themselves more, so there isn’t so much of the excess that took place in the 1970s. But the thing about Tramp is that, whether you’re a star or not, everybody who is a member is aware that it’s a huge privilege to be part of it. And so people do behave accordingly. I’ve only had to ban two people in the past five years.”

With a membership said to be 3,000 strong, but a capacity of just 300, the maths seems improbable but, somehow, Tramp works. The price to pay is predictably steep at a cool £1,000 a year, putting Tramp, as I challenge Fleming, at risk of being a place purely for the elite. Who would want to go to a club that’s full of sons and daughters of sheiks and oligarchs who simply want to drink Cristal and take selfies? Apart

from the offspring of other sheiks and oligarchs, that is.

“I’ve turned down so many applications from people who want to be members but reveal that they’re based in Dubai and will only be coming by a few times a year,” says Fleming with a wry smile. “And we get applications from people who only want to come on Saturday night. We never say yes to them. We’d rather have somebody who doesn’t spend a fortune but uses the club every week. And, of course, if we meet somebody interesting, creative and a little quirky and they can’t afford the membership fee, then we have definitely been known to be flexible.”

The place certainly inspires loyalty.

Fleming claims there are still 30 to 40 members who have belonged to Tramp all the way back to opening night in 1969. “The other week we had three generations of the same family coming in – and they were all dancing on one of the sofas!”. However he is naturally more reticent about sharing stories that would entice the gossip columns.

“OK, well my favourite was meeting Woody Harrelson,” he eventually admits. “Woody loves Tramp and the first time I met him was fantastic, sitting in the dining room while he asked me about the story of the place. He was with Lindsay Lohan, who was a little more difficult. I remember her standing at the top of the stairs at the entrance and refusing to come down unless five members of her staff were escorting her.

Woody was at the bottom telling her not to be such a diva and just come on in!”

Lohan’s behaviour, here as in most places, is not typical. I ask Fleming what else a member, celeb or not, gets at Tramp which they couldn’t also get at myriad other nightspots on Jermyn Street and the King’s Road alone.

“We honestly do know our members,” he insists. “We had 65 members in on Saturday night and each had three or four guests with them.

That makes around 300 people in total.

I can absolutely assure you that not only do I know the names of every member

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who was in the club, but the staff know what their favourite drink is, where they like to sit and what they like to eat.”

They may not be members, but, before fatherhood beckoned, both Princes William and Harry frequented Tramp – a situation that, as you’d expect, brought its own particular issues. “When the princes came here it did involve a lot of people coming in beforehand and asking a lot of questions about security,” Fleming admits. “But when they’ve come here, both in their bachelor days, they chose quieter nights. I don’t think their people would have let them come on nights when we were packed to the rafters.”

Floods in the basement and mismatched crockery in the restaurant might not have bothered Mick Jagger or Ringo Starr in the 1970s. But Fleming admits that the Tramp of yore couldn’t work today as the competition to attract a new generation of stars and influencers is fiercer than ever.

Another long night at the club looms. Before departing to take care of business for the night he hints that Sir Michael Caine may well be attending the club’s 50th birthday party in May, while also debating the baffling popularity among Tramp’s clientele of Midori, a Japanese lemon liqueur that regulars refer to as simply ‘the green bottle’. “We must be keeping them in business singlehandedly,” he sagely adds to a fellow club employee as we ascend the stairs back into a grey Mayfair.

Fifty years on, even without Keith Moon swinging from the ceiling, Tramp continues to impress. This is a nightspot that, somehow, has managed to combine hedonism and exclusivity without being overly contrived or.

“We’re definitely not competing with media-orientated clubs like Soho House or the more ‘smart’ clubs like Annabel’s either,” Fleming concludes. “We very much do our own thing. It’s like any other house party, really. Get the right mix of people and it all just clicks.” tramp.co.uk

WINEGROWER / CREATOR / COGNAC VISIT LA MAISON RÉMY MARTIN RESIDENCY AT CLAUDE BOSI. 81 Fulham Rd, Chelsea, London SW3 6RD Please drink responsibly

To apply for membership and receive access to exclusive events, visit lamaison.remymartin.com or scan this QR code

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P.54 BON VIVEUR A new members’ club where Hendrix once took to the stage

P.66 DABIZ MUÑOS The Spanish chef combining theatre with food

Seafood chef Nathan Outlaw is the only cook of his specialty to scoop a Michelin star. His latest venture, a new restaurant at The Goring, opens this summer (p.60)

H O L D I N G COURT H OW TO IMP ROVE A S O H O BO LTH O LE W HER E THE B EATLES PA RTI ED A N D J I MI HEN DR I X TOOK TO TH E STAG E? T U R N I T I N TO A P R I VAT E M E M B E R S ’ C LU B W I T H A H O ST O F H O S P I TA L I T Y G U R U S AT I TS H E L M A N D A D E S I G N T H AT R I F F S O N I T S M U S I C A L H E R I TAG E

Words: Nick Savage

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WITHIN MOMENTS of arriving, Harry Mead establishes himself as the consummate host. He’s come just a tad later than we have, maybe 30 seconds, and begs our pardon as if it were half an hour. We’re standing outside The Court, his newly minted private members’ club on Kingly Street, which is a storied venue complete with blue plaques on its facade. Formerly called the Bag O’ Nails, it hosted an early gig by The Jimi Hendrix Experience and was the spot where Paul McCartney met his first wife, Linda.

Raffish, yet wearing an impeccably tailored suit, there’s something of the 1940s film star about Mead, which makes him perfectly at home in his new venue. His father, he says, instilled a sense of wonder in him when it came to great novels and classic films. It’s a love that’s been imparted to the club, which is equal parts Rick’s bar from Casablanca, Gatsby’s mansion, Studio 54 and Copacabana in Rio. Created with design group 3Stories, the private members’ club is a masterwork in softly lit woods and gilded surfaces – exhibiting a deft interplay between Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern design influences. Throughout the club you’ll find murals painted by New York-based artist Bradley Theodore – who Mead refers to as “a chap who’s been named the new Andy Warhol” – depicting fashion mavens such as Karl Lagerfeld and Anna Wintour alongside historical figures such as Henry VIII. There’s a certain vibe of Tutankhamen’s tomb as you descend into the main room – one feels as if one’s unearthed something resplendent. The bar is a case in point, with a shimmering golden drinks gantry that rivets the eye; it’s not dissimilar to what you might have found in one of New York’s most famous discotheques, or from Baz Luhrmann’s recent reimagining of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s best-known novel. Seams of gold have been worked through black marble floor, resembling the beams of the sun. There’s a natural flow to the space, with tables set up in the traditional nightclub manner and comfy, intimate booths along either side, all leading to the stage.

I ask Mead how he plans to build on the stage’s brilliant history. “This was a gig bar,” he explains. “People like Jimi Hendrix and

Man-about-town, Innerplace’s Nick Savage, gives you the insider lowdown on London’s most hedonistic haunts Innerplace is London’s personal lifestyle concierge. Membership provides complimentary access to the finest nightclubs, the best restaurants and top private members’ clubs.

Innerplace also offers priority bookings, updates on the latest openings and hosts its own regular parties. Membership starts from £75 a month, innerplace.co.uk

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The Beatles would come here to relax after they played. Now we’re getting musicians coming here after their gigs around town, just to sit and have some food, but asking me after 20 minutes, ‘Do you mind if I pick up that guitar there and just do something?’ I think that’s a massive compliment.”

As with any members’ club worth its salt, whether it survives is down to the quality of the product on offer, and Mead has excelled in selecting a team that can do the concept justice. Tom Sellers of Michelin-starred Restaurant Story in Tower Bridge has designed the menu, which will be implemented by Aaron Harris, formerly sous chef at the Michelin-starred Northcote. Similarly, Mr Lyan Studio (the company of bartender Ryan Chetiyawardana, who famously closed Dandelyan shortly after winning top spot at The World’s 50 Best Bars 2018) has designed the cocktails, which will be implemented by Ben Ghosn, formerly of Gleneagles.

But of all the bells and whistles of the club, Mead seems to be one of its shiniest. He’s the part that pulls it all together. “I’ll be hosting here every night,” he mentions as I’m leaving, “like owners used to.”

The Court, 9 Kingly Street, London, W1, thecourt.co.uk

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LA MIA MAMMA

W I T H H I S F I R S T R E S TA U R A N T, L U C A M A G G I O R A P R O V E S H I M S E L F THE MUSIC MAN WITH THE MIDAS TOUCH

Words: Richard Brown

O

n the face of it, there’s little to link high-end Piccadilly hip-hop haunt Toy Room with La Mia Mamma on the King’s Road. The former is a neon-purple underground playground frequented by the likes of Tyga, G-Eazy, Pia Mia and Waka Flocka Flame (some of the biggest backronyms in American rap, should you be wondering). The other is a cosy, clean-cut Italian restaurant that opened last year to cram 60 covers, elbow-toelbow, into a narrow kerbside space, all terracotta brickwork and shelves of potted plants, that’s a ten-minute toddle from Sloane Street station. The connection comes in the tattooed form of nightlife mogul Luca Maggiora.

Having made a name for himself in the VIP club world – Maggiora helped open Maddox in Mayfair before launching his own party spots Project, Scandal, Toy Room and Charlie – the ex-City financier has teamed up with compatriots Corrado Mozzillo and Peppe

Corsaro – the duo behind Luna Rossa in Notting Hill – to open his first eatery.

As its name suggests – La Mia Mamma translates as ‘my mum’ – the restaurant is a family-friendly affair devoted to food from the Apennine Peninsula. A hand-painted mural on a wall near the entrance points to the restaurant’s raison d’etre. Showcasing Italy’s 20 administrative regions, it highlights the different districts La Mia Mamma’s menu alternates between every three months. A rotating residency of chefs – or ‘mammas’ – operate under the tutelage of Michelin-starred Il Baretto-alumnus Marco Giugliano.

Maggiora’s music venues work because they are fun. I’ll never forget one white-hot night in the now-defunct Project. The modesty of La Mia Mamma may be a far cry from the VIP tables and fountain sparklers of that temple to deep house, but both places are, fundamentally, social concepts focussed on providing the feel-good

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factor. La Mia Mamma is great fun, too – a culinary matriarchy where you inherit a mamma who fusses over you with all the necessary Italian theatrics.

We lucked out; our visit coincided with a celebration of Emilia Romagna (the region between Florence and Milan), meaning a menu based around tortellini, tagliatelle, lasagne, Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano.

‘Mamma’s menu’ offered four courses – antipasti, pasta, main and dessert – for £38 (the price of two G&Ts in Toy Room). Everything was excellent. That price includes an Aperol Spritz on arrival and a coffee on departure, surely making it the steal of Sloanesville. Opt for a double espresso and you can continue the night by discovering how Maggiora beceme the King of Clubs at one of his more debauched Mayfair haunts. Word to the wise, mind, you may want to wait for the spag bol to subside first.

257 King’s Rd, SW3, lamiamamma.co.uk

C R O S S I N G

PERSPECTIVES R É M Y M A R T I N A N D C R A F T M E TA LW O R K E R S T E AV E N R I C H A R D T R A N S F O R M A LIMITED-EDITION COGNAC BOTTLE INTO A WORK OF ART

Words: Matthew Slaney

W

hen the House of Rémy Martin was searching for an artist to breathe new life into its iconic XO decanter, it is perhaps no surprise that the cognac specialist selected design ironworker Steaven Richard for the job. Not only do both parties rely on marrying centuries-old manufacturing techniques with 21st-century innovation, both have also achieved Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant (EPV) status, a mark of recognition by the French State similar to the prestige of royal warrants in the UK. Richard, who opened his Paris-based atelier in 2001, draws inspiration from the organic world of wood and plants, decorating brass and iron-based works with textile motifs.

For his latest project, Richard immersed himself in the world of Rémy Martin, evoking parallels between the origins of cognac and those of artistic metalwork. As part of the process he invented a new way to emboss brass – known as anamorphosis – creating a Rémy Martin XO motif with a unique golden texture.

Established in 1724, Rémy Martin is the only major cognac house to be founded by a winegrower, is one of the few French cognac houses that continues to distil on lees in small copper stills, and today boasts the largest reserve of fine cognac in the world.

The limited-edition Rémy Martin XO x Steaven Richard decanter and gift box will be revealed exclusively to members of La Maison Rémy Martin in London on 29 May at Noho Studios, 46 Great Titchfield Street. It will be available to purchase exclusively at Selfridges.

Rémy Martin XO x Steaven Richard Limited Edition will be available exclusively in store and online at Selfridges, £195, selfridges.com. To become a member of La Maison Rémy Martin, apply at lamaison.remymartin.com.

Richard immersed himself in the world of Rémy Martin, evoking parallels between the origins of cognac and those of artistic metalwork

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FIRST PLAICE K I N G O F F I S H N AT H A N O U T L AW H A S M A D E WAV E S W I T H H I S E P O N Y M O U S P O R T I S A A C E AT E R Y – T H E O N LY S E A F O O D R E S T A U R A N T I N T H E U K T O H O L D A

MICHELIN

HIS AND HE

NEW THE

S TA R .

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A N D C H A M P I O N I N G S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y I N T H E S E A S

Words: Ellen Millard

SO VAST IS Nathan Outlaw’s cookbook collection that his Wikipedia page makes reference to it. While the rest of us may have a shelf or two dedicated to dusty paperbacks from gastronomy’s finest, the Cornwall-based chef has a veritable library that spans hundreds. “My wife goes mad,” he chuckles down the phone from his home in Port Isaac. “I’m getting on for a thousand now. We have to keep buying new shelves.”

His most prized tome is a 1988 copy of Rick Stein’s English Seafood Cookery – “back when he was still called Richard,” Outlaw jokes. “To this day it’s my favourite.” It’s hardly surprising; Outlaw owes much to Stein.

For two years, he supported the chef in his kitchen in Cornwall’s Padstow, where he learned how to craft the seafood masterpieces that Stein is renowned for. Today, the only person who rivals the Cornish cook is Outlaw himself. “The best lesson Rick taught me was to be confident in simple food,” he says. “His enthusiasm when he’d come back from his travels was infectious; I just loved listening to him. I still do now – I watch all of his television programmes.”

Born in landlocked Maidstone in Kent, Outlaw spent his summers in Cornwall, where he found a love of the seaside. His first foray into the kitchen was as a child, when he would help his chef dad make toast for the breakfast crowd. He later trained alongside Gary Rhodes and Eric Chavot, before moving to Cornwall to learn the ropes from Stein.

At the age of 25 he opened his first restaurant, Black Pig, against his peers’ better judgement. Less than a year later, he was awarded his first Michelin star. Black Pig didn’t last long; it closed after three years, which was perhaps a blessing in disguise. In 2006, he took over the restaurant at Marina Villa in Fowey, Cornwall, where he opened his eponymous Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, a seafood-focused eatery with a relaxed vibe and simple, faultless, food. The restaurant – which moved to Rock in 2010 and then to Port Isaac in 2015 – was awarded its first Michelin star in 2011; it now has two, and to this day remains the only specialised seafood restaurant in the UK to hold the two-star culinary badge of honour.

But the plaudits don’t end there. Twelve years after it opened, Restaurant Nathan Outlaw scooped The Good Food Guide’s top gong when it was named Britain’s best restaurant in 2018, knocking Simon Rogan’s L’Enclume off its throne – a throne Rogan had sat on for four years.

“Outlaw’s food is characterised by absolute freshness of ingredients and by a clear sense of purpose,” The Good Food Guide said. “He follows no fads, copies no recipes, joins no schools, but is driven by his supply of impeccably fine ingredients, and a chef’s talent for unlocking all they have to offer.”

The chef’s new cookbook, named after his twoMichelin-starred Port Isaac eatery, serves as proof of all that The Good Food Guide has claimed. It follows a year in the life of the restaurant, with recipes that riff on Outlaw’s simple, and seasonal, approach to cooking.

“Seasonality is everything, especially with the food that I cook,” Outlaw says. “Even though our dishes are quite complex in the way they’re put together, they rely on the ingredients being bang on. We can all go to the supermarket and grab some asparagus at any time of the year, but where we are there’s a lady who grows it for just eight weeks and that’s the only time I’ll ever have asparagus on the menu.”

The asparagus grower is Jax Buse and she, along with a number of the restaurant’s other suppliers, is referenced in the book. Unlike the chef’s previous cookbooks, the new volume focuses less on cooking and more on sharing stories about the restaurant and the farmers, winemakers and fishermen that are behind it. ‘Farm to table’ is hardly a new concept, but for a seafood chef in Cornwall, knowing the source

of your ingredients is part and parcel of the job – and ensuring sustainability in the seas was a vital task long before David Attenborough got involved.

“We’re lucky with sustainability in that we can see where our fish is coming from,” says Outlaw. “When you’re in a landlocked location, it’s very difficult to know who to trust, but I can just talk to the fishermen.

Personally, I’m a bit of an anorak about fishing so I’m always quizzing them about what gear they’re using, and if there’s something I don’t like the sound of then I won’t use them.”

Among the stories in the book are recipes that have previously been on the menu at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw. The crowd-pleasing gurnard with Porthilly sauce is, the cook says, a personal triumph.

“It’s everything I ever aimed to do when I first started cooking under my own name,” he explains. “I always wanted to get to a point where my food was so simple that when you looked at it you’d think ‘Well, I could do that’, but actually you couldn’t. I remember telling one of my chefs about 10 years ago that that was the stage I wanted to get to, and now we have.”

When he’s not winning awards for his work at Restaurant Nathan Outlaw, the cook is serving his other outposts: Outlaw’s Fish Kitchen, also in Port Isaac, and Nathan Outlaw at Al Mahara in Dubai. His London restaurant, Outlaw at The Capital, will be closing soon to make way for a new city venture, which will launch at The Goring in Belgravia this summer.

It will be the hotel’s first new restaurant in more than 100 years and will, naturally, be focused on seafood.

“The people who own The Goring are very passionate about Cornwall because they’re from there, so we’re going to be showcasing the best Cornish seafood that we can,” Outlaw says. “It will be more casual, busier and bigger [than my other London restaurant] – but I’m excited by that.”

With the launch of his new book and another restaurant opening imminently, this year is set to be a busy one for Outlaw and the team. He plans to attend a few food festivals this summer to promote the book and, if he can find the time, he’ll be doing some fishing of his own. But you’ll most likely find him in his favourite spot of all: behind the stove.

“I’ve always just loved the kitchen. If I’m at home, I’ll be sitting in the kitchen, even if I’m not cooking,” he says. “A lot of people think it’s strange that I can do 15 hours a day and still love it, but that’s the reason I do it. I’ve always worked, but I’ve never felt like I’ve had a job.”

Restaurant Nathan Outlaw out now, published by Bloomsbury Absolute, £40, nathan-outlaw.com

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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF RESTAURANT NATHAN OUTLAW, PUBLISHED BY BLOOMSBURY ABSOLUTE

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PROMOTION

CHEYNE R E AC T I O N F O L L O W I N G A N I N E - M O N T H R E N O VAT I O N , C H E L S E A’ S C H E Y N E WA L K B R A S S E R I E R E O P E N S A S N O . F I F T Y C H E Y N E

F

or fans of Chelsea’s Cheyne Walk Brasserie, there’s good news: following a nine-month refurbishment, the eatery has reopened with a new name and a new all-star team.

Originally opened in 2003 by Sally Greene, founder director of The Old Vic and proprietor of jazz club Ronnie Scott’s, the now-named No. Fifty Cheyne sees Jason Atherton protégée Iain Smith head up the kitchen. The 70-cover restaurant is served by an evolving menu of seasonal dishes made using the best of Britain’s produce

– think beef fillet with spinach and rainbow chard, seared scallops with a shellfish and tomato ragout and an epic Sunday roast that requires a three-day notice period.

Upstairs, head bartender Max Berrington, whose Brønnum bar won Copenhagen’s Best Bar award, has created a premium cocktail list for the charming ruby red Drawing Room. With views over the River Thames and Cheyne Park, the bar makes for the perfect spot to sample a sundowner, or two. On the menu you’ll find new twists on old classics – the Cheyne Bloody Mary, for example, is made with an invigorating horseradish vodka for the ultimate hair of the dog – as well as Berrington’s own creations, such as the Chelsea Ramos, a gin, champagne and coconut cream concoction.

There is also a selection of non-alcoholic cocktails, as well as an extensive menu of beers, spirits and wines, the latter of which has been curated by food and beverage director Peter Horton. Be sure to peruse the Library List, a selection of premium vinos individually selected for their vintage and, of course, excellence. Cheers to that.

50 Cheyne Walk, SW3, fiftycheyne.com

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THE G R E AT E S T SHOWMAN M E E T M I C H E L I N ’ S E N FA N T T E R R I B L E DA B I Z M U Ñ OZ , T H E S PA N I S H C E L E B R I T Y C H E F BEHIND MADRID’S FIRST THREE-MICHELINS TA R R E D R E S TA U R A N T A N D M AY FA I R ’ S M A D C A P S T R E E T X O , T H E F I N E D I N I N G E S TA B L I S H M E N T LIKENED TO A CULINARY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Words: Josh Sims

DABIZ MUÑOZ is not your usual chef. He doesn’t even look the part. Most three-Michelin-starred chefs mirror their status with a large helping of sobriety – many look like accountants once the whites are off – but here comes Muñoz with his sneakers, shredded jeans, mohawk and complicated earring arrangement.

“Sometimes looking like this is useful and sometimes it’s not,” he chuckles. On the one hand he gets stopped in the street for selfies in his native Madrid, where his celebrity – books, TV shows, documentaries, red carpet moments – has added punch through his marriage to one of Spain’s prime-time TV presenters, Cristina Pedroche. On the other hand, he recently discovered that his style gets him refused entry to clubs in London. He’s not saying which. “They told me that my look wasn’t ‘appropriate’,” he says, “which is incredible for a city like London these days. Listen, I don’t really plan the way I look. I don’t dress for effect. It’s just the way I’m comfortable. But not to be able to get into somewhere because of the clothes you’ve got on, or because of a specific haircut ...”

It’s in London where his latest venture, StreetXO (XO is a tricky Spanish pun on “show”), opened to acclaim, following the serious praise heaped on his three-Michelin-starred restaurant DiverXO in Madrid. The former might not have made much profit yet, but it has proved a testing ground for some fresh cooking. It’s been, by Muñoz’s own admission, a hard ride to get going, but it’s a stepping stone to the planned opening of another six or so restaurants – in the US, Asia and Dubai – over the coming couple of years. It could be the beginning of a global enterprise, if he’s ready for it, given that he’s only now just getting used to his celebrity status back in Spain.

“It can get a bit boring – people trying to take your picture all the time,” he laughs. “But I also understand that that’s the world I’m in – not just through my relationship but because chefs are sometimes celebrities now. And the fact is that the more people know you, the more people are likely to want to eat at your restaurant. I’m here for the food – and it’s the food I want to be known for.”

That looks set to be a given. His brand – thanks not just to his cooking, or his sense of theatre but, it has to be said, his style and his attitude – is ripe for expansion. Indeed, perhaps the only stumbling block might be Muñoz himself. Like many chefs, he’s a self-confessed control freak. And he’s only now learning to let go a little.

I have to do everything, I have to make all the creative decisions,” says the Spanish chef, who already works five days a week in Madrid, then each weekend in London.

“That means I just can’t open everywhere. I like to be chef, to get the apron on. That feels right. And I feel very differently about the business now compared to a decade ago. I was very successful very fast and I was terrified all the time, wondering whether I could match customer expectations. And to be honest I had a really tough time with it then, dealing with the pressure. But I don’t worry about burning out now.

“In the past two years I’ve got much more comfortable with what I’m doing – in life, in cooking, in London – which is not an easy city in which to make a business despite the reputation it has for people eating out all the time,” he adds. “I lived in London when I was 20 and I thought I understood the city. But coming back has made me realise that I didn’t. There are just so many cultures here and you have to understand – and cook – for all of them. That’s a challenge. But I have to say I love what’s happening.”

What’s happening is the likes of Muñoz being compared to the second coming of Ferran Adrià, the pioneering Spanish chef who, it’s often suggested, invented molecular gastronomy, turning cooking into a kind of culinary science, building dishes on unexpected juxtapositions that create as much spectacle as, well, something to actually eat.

“Sure, being compared with Adrià is a compliment – he revolutionised gastronomy. But we’re doing something different,” says Muñoz, and one suspects he’s not mad on the comparison, most of all because he wants to be his own man. What’s more, he doesn’t really think of his cooking as being especially Spanish, despite StreetXO’s tapas-style serving. “I’m trying to make my own revolution. Will that work out? Well, it’s too early to say. But I’m working on it.”

That’s apparent, in a way, in the look of his restaurants; all bold graphics, neon signs, whimsy, wonder and fiesta attitude, the staff wearing outfits not dissimilar to his own. His London enterprise has been described as a Cirque du Soleil of gastronomy, and were a staff member to cartwheel between the tables or deliver dishes via trapeze it wouldn’t be surprising.

But, Muñoz stresses, “difference alone doesn’t make you better, even if I think customers really want to feel the soul of the place they dine in.” Crucially, the revolution is apparent in his cooking, which is experimental without being scientific: crunchy pigs’ ears coated with strawberry hoisin sauce, dumplings of prawn paste with cheddar cocktails, wasabi ice cream with gherkins. Dishes are often delivered with friendly advice as to how they are best eaten.

It’s not fusion – a term Muñoz is not so keen on – and, it’s true, it’s only passingly Spanish. It’s a mash up of different cuisines and techniques, just like the cooking at Viridiana, the Madrid restaurant where his parents liked to take him as a 12-year-old. (It was Viridiana that inspired him to take up oven gloves and go to culinary school, which was followed by spells at London’s Hakkasan and Nobu.)

“I’m trying to do the unexpected,” says Muñoz, a puckish figure in his Nikes (in Spain, he’s an ambassador for the brand, as well as for Mercedes).

“That in itself isn’t difficult, in the way that just being crazy for its own sake isn’t. I’m trying to do it in a refined way, with combinations of foods not seen before. And it has to be delicious first – then we can talk about pushing the creative ideas. After all, these are not labs or museums but restaurants. The dishes can sound like they should be a disaster but they work.

Of course, sometimes I think a dish is just the best and customers think otherwise. And the line between delicious and disaster is set by the customers.”

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CONNOISSEUR

“The idea of luxury you’d typically get with Michelin, well you won’t get that here. Here the staff are fun” one of a very elite club to have so many Michelin accolades at such a relatively young age. He concedes that he used to be “a lot more aggressive about everything I did and pushing it all forward. But now I’m better at respecting people’s opinions. And I accept that some people like what I do and some people don’t, which is what happens when you do something different.”

How long will the Muñoz proposition stay different? How well will Muñoz be able to sustain that difference as his business expands? He’s going to be working on it 24/7 until he finds out.

“I’m very ambitious,” Muñoz says, which is akin to saying that Everest is a tall mountain, or that Ferraris are quite fast. “I want to open these new restaurants and for them all to be crazily successful. And for me that means full bookings all the time. That’s the only real measure of success in this business, nothing else.

Look around; there are plenty of Michelin-starred restaurants without full bookings.”

The setting, the theatre, the tone and certainly the food chime with, Muñoz argues, a new definition of luxury, too. It’s one Michelin itself seems to be coming round to, just a few years back having focused its attention largely on the French, the formal and the occasionally stiff.

“The idea of luxury you’d typically get with Michelin, well you won’t get that here. Here the staff are fun. They smile,” laughs Muñoz. “The real luxury is in the dishes, which should provide a mind-blowing experience. And I’m good with that – because if a diner has great food, they’ll come back even if the service was a bit off. They don’t go back if the service was perfect but the food wasn’t quite so great. Of course, chefs sometimes want to challenge ways of eating. But that doesn’t always work. People don’t always get it. And, you know what, that’s the chef’s problem not theirs. It means you have to refine the concept of the dish so that people do get it.”

Learning to listen – you have to be pragmatic, he notes – is something that has come with maturity, Muñoz suggests. He’s still not yet 40, making him

StreetXO, 15 Burlington Street, W1, streetxo.com

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COUTURE CUT FROM A DIFFERENT CLOTH

P.72 SAFARI CHIC A game drive uniform

by Brunello Cucinelli and Molly Goddard

P.74 GENERATION GAME Lenny and Zoë Kravitz partner with TUMI for their first film together

P.80 A CUT ABOVE Meet the female tailors finding their shears in a man’s world

P.90 SUITCASE ESSENTIALS Travel attire and accessories to add to your packing list

In Northampton, the team behind footwear brand Joseph Cheaney is merging time-old traditions with 21stcentury tech (p.92)

J E E P T H R I L LS Words: Ellen Millard

SYDNEY TOP You’ll know Molly Goddard for her fuschia pink tulle dresses, made famous by Killing Eve’s Villanelle – but for SS19 the designer has crafted her voluminous shapes out of lightweight cotton. This ruched ruffle-trim crop top has all the hallmarks of a Goddard blouse, with heat-friendly framework. Win, win. £500, matchesfashion.com

E L E F T H E R I A S A N DA L S Each pair of Ancient Greek’s sandals have been handcrafted using techniques that have been honed over centuries. These Eleftheria sandals, named after the Greek word for freedom, are no exception. £140, matchesfashion.com

COTTON TROUSERS King of cashmere Brunello Cucinelli has earned a reputation for his line of laidback wardrobe staples.

As with all of the designer’s clothes, these cotton and linen trousers are handmade in Italy and crafted from the finest materials money can buy. Buy now and wear forever more. £935, mytheresa.com

RIVIERA SUNGLASSES Transport yourself to the Amalfi coast with Aspinal of London’s debut collection of sunglasses, which has been inspired by Italy’s most glamorous destinations. £165, aspinaloflondon.com

MASSIMO DUTTI’S SS19 LIMITED EDITION COLLECTION, MASSIMODUTTI.COM

SENNAN SHOE While the majority of fine English shoemakers are based in Northampton, John Lobb went against the grain and has made its bespoke shoes in London since 1866. This Sennen style is an apron fronted double buckle classic shoe with a contemporary look and feel. £1,070, johnlobb.com

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COUTURE

PA L M A F E D O R A H AT Aussie hat brand Lack of Color is committed to crafting veganfriendly toppers. This Palma fedora, which has a UPF 50+ rating, was so well-recieved, PETA named it one of its favourite vegan styles. £80, net-a-porter.com

R O L L AG A S L I G H T E R We don’t recommend smoking, but we do recommend that you own a quality lighter. First introduced in Paris in 1956, the Rollagas was made by Dunhill under a patented Swiss design and it has remained pretty much unchanged ever since. Instant conversation maker and instant cool-factor. £535, dunhill.com

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LEICA Q2 The second generation of Leica’s signature Q camera offers 95 per cent more resolution than its predecessor.

A new protective sealing against dust and water spray makes it ideally equipped for shooting in all weather conditions. £4,250, leicastore-uk.co.uk

C R AW F O R D S H O U L D E R B AG On 9 May, Michael Kors will unveil its new Bond Street townhouse, which has been modelled on the designer’s own homes in New York and Florida. Pay a visit to pick up the latest launches from the Michael Kors Collection – including this Crawford Shoulder Bag. £1,663, 9 Old Bond Street, W1S

F A M I LY PORTRAIT FRESH FROM THEIR SCREEN DEBUT TOGETHER I N T U M I ’ S N E W C A M PA I G N F I L M , L E N N Y A N D ZO Ë K R AV I T Z D I S C U S S T H E I R B U S Y S C H E D U L E S , F I N D I N G T I M E F O R F A M I LY A N D G O I N G B A C K T O T H E I R BAHAMIAN ROOTS

Words: Ellen Millard

I

n his home in the Bahamas, where the waves of the North Atlantic Ocean provide a permanent soundtrack, Lenny Kravitz dreamed of music.

With each new melody that his subconscious presented, he would leap out of bed and grab his tape recorder before the tune left his mind. These night-time song writing sessions formed the basis

of his 11th studio album, Raise Vibrations, a 12-song compilation that touches on racism, political corruptness and his mother’s death – all recorded from his Bahamian studio.

“I feel like my most authentic self in the Bahamas. Everything makes sense there,” he says of his recording haven. “It’s where my family is from, and it’s the place I’ve called home for a while now.

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F E AT U R E

There’s a connection to my roots and there’s a community I’m a part of. I can be me.”

The performer is currently in the middle of a world tour, the last date of which will see him take to the stage at London’s 20,000-capacity O2 arena. But between shows at sold-out stadiums, he flits back to the Bahamas. His most recent

project with luggage brand Tumi took place there – a campaign, shot with his Hollywood actress daughter Zoë, for the brand’s Alpha 3 range, a new iteration of its 35-year-old Ballistic Nylon collection. The short film focuses on the idea of travelling to create memories, and the location was a fitting setting for the pair’s screen debut together.

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What’s the significance of the campaign’s location to you?

Zoe Kravitz: The Bahamas holds a lot of meaning for me. When I was a kid, it was like a magical place that my dad talked about a lot with so much love and passion. I think it always made him feel connected to his mum – my grandmother – who called it home. I also saw it as a peaceful place where you

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INTERVIEW

How do you ensure getting quality family time together?

LK: You make the time for it. We talk as much as possible on the phone, so the connection is always strong. When I get the chance, I find a way to see her. Family is the most important thing to both of us.

What makes you happiest?

ZK: Good food, good people, good places.

L: That my daughter is happy, healthy, and living out her dreams.

That makes me the happiest.

“This campaign is about connecting with ourselves, our roots and with each other” could go and rejuvenate. It’s a special trip he shared with me. I have so many wonderful memories associated with the Bahamas.

What attracted you to working with TUMI? Lenny Kravitz: I’ve been a Tumi customer and admirer of the company for as long as I’ve been touring. When you’re travelling and living out of a suitcase, your luggage becomes an extension of your home – and yourself for that matter. It’s the one thing that’s always with you; on the plane, on the tour bus, in the hotel room, backstage, or on set. So, you want it to be reliable, durable, and make a statement. For me, Tumi embodies all of those qualities to the fullest.

This campaign is the first time both you have worked together

on film – how was that?

ZK: This campaign is about connecting with ourselves, our roots, and with each other. Being on camera together for the first time was really special. It’s kind of surprising that it took this long, but it was all meant to be. It was also really fun working with my dad. I can’t believe it took this long, but the universe has a funny way of working things out.

What is the quality you most enjoy in each other?

LK: I love how Zoë doesn’t settle.

She works harder than anybody I’ve ever met. When she says she’s going to do something, she does it better than anyone. She pushes harder.

She fights harder. I couldn’t be more proud of her.

Z: I love my dad’s good heart, respect for others, and sense of humor.

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How do you define the perfect journey?

ZK: The ones that are so good, you forget to take pictures.

L: To me, the perfect journey is one where I learn something about myself as well as the community I am visiting. You take away an immaterial souvenir in the form of a lesson or a memory. The perfect journey ends with that.

What would you like to do more of?

ZK: Travel for pleasure, not for work. Explore new places, and soak up new cultures.

LK: I’d like to help out communities that need it more.

In the Bahamas, we’ve done some fantastic work. I want to extend that work around the world.

What’s next?

ZK: I am excited for Big Little Lies season 2 to air in June, and hopefully spending a lot more time with my family and friends.

L: I’m pushing towards the same things I’ve always pushed toward.

It’s art, it’s creativity, and it’s doing a little good in the world that really could use more good. tumi.com

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S U I TS YO U, M A’A M W H E N T H E L I K E S O F K AT H R Y N S A R G E N T A N D P H O E B E G O R M L E Y O P E N E D T H E I R TA I L O R I N G H O U S E S O N S AV I L E R O W, T H E Y B R O K E T H E S T R E E T ’ S 2 0 0 - Y E A R - O L D M A L E M O N O P O LY – A N D S TA R T E D A M OV E M E N T I N T H E P R O C E S S . M E E T T H E M A S T E R W O M E N TA I LO R S C U T T I N G S U I T S F O R T H E F E M A L E F O R M

Words: Josh Sims

“Tailoring is one of the last professions women still have to break into�

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COUTURE

S

ome eight years ago Kathryn Sargent was something of a unicorn in her profession. She had just been appointed head cutter at Gieves & Hawkes on Savile Row, one of the most prestigious jobs at one of the more prestigious names in global tailoring. For her, it was simply the natural progression of her career. It wasn’t until she received a flurry of letters of support from the public that she realised just how much of a dent she had made in what is an exceptionally male world.

“That is what really made me understand how unusual a woman in my position was,” says Sargent, who was the first woman to hold such a position on Savile Row, and who has since set up a successful tailoring business on Mayfair’s Brook Street under her own name. “It certainly hadn’t been easy to get that job, because I think tailoring is one of the last professions that women still have to break into.

But times were changing: people may have viewed plumbing or carpentry as typically male trades, but when I left college interest in trades and viewing them as male already felt over. I’m sure many of the senior gentlemen I worked alongside would have preferred a young man as an apprentice, but actually they were inundated with women applying.

Some found this shocking, others just didn’t understand it, but others thought it was brilliant.”

Plenty of esteemed tailoring houses around London will happily make bespoke suits for women – among them Maurice Sedwell, Huntsman, and Anderson & Sheppard (whose director is a woman, Anda Rowland). Edward Sexton, who has tailored for the likes of Annie Lennox and Kate Moss, notes that it’s something of a specialism. “You have to allow for those wonderful peaks and valleys, which most tailors just don’t understand,” he says, referring to the female form.

“You can’t just turn on your training in traditional men’s tailoring to cut for a woman. They end up looking like they’re wearing a man’s jacket.”

There is considerably less demand for bespoke tailoring for women than for men, and few women have entered the business, whether catering for women or for men. Sargent, it seems, has been something of a catalyst for raising the profile of women in the industry: Richard Anderson, for example, now has two female apprentice tailors and a number now have their own names over the door.

OPPOSITE PAGE KATHRYN SARGENT; THIS PAGE AND PREVIOUS PHOEBE GORMLEY FROM GORMLEY & GAMBLE

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Susannah Hall, for example, runs a tailoring business in Clerkenwell, and Katherine Maylin, who also worked as a tailor at a range of Savile Row houses, has now created her own business there.

Joseph alumnus Alex Eagle followed suit two years ago when she created a tailoring workshop in her eponymous Lexington Street store, enlisting the cutting prowess of Chandni Odedra, a Savile Row graduate with 12 years’ experience. Four years ago Phoebe Gormley – who trained in costume design at university and interned on Savile Row – established

Gormley & Gamble with a made-to-measure service, pitching herself as the first tailor on Savile Row to cater just to women.

“There are more women working on Savile Row now than ever before,” says Sargent. “In time it won’t be a notable subject any more.”

“The industry is changing. There is this gradual shift happening,” agrees Dara Ford, who was apprenticed in haute couture before studying fashion design, and who has a bespoke and semi-bespoke tailoring business based in

FROM LEFT CONNOLLY ENGLAND; ALEX EAGLE

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A female tailor may be no better qualified to cut a jacket for the female body than a male tailor but, suggests Sargent, perhaps a female tailor is more attuned to understanding how a client wants to feel in her clothes; how they need them to work for her. Susannah Hall agrees. “Not all women, for example, want that ‘women’s suit’ look, which is very fitted and curvy – a male view of a women’s suit.”

Hall revamped her premises and rebranded her business this year. “A lot of my customers find they don’t like the atmosphere in men’s tailors and that they aren’t very user-friendly,” she says. “It’s important to get it right because being measured up for the first time can be scary. They’re also finding it increasingly hard to buy off the peg, because fashion doesn’t seem to cater for ‘normal’ women any more. I have clients with amazing figures, and even they can’t buy off the peg these days.”

It’s not just the traditionally male world of tailoring that is seeing some redress in the gender balance. Deborah Carré, who formerly worked at luxury footwear company John Lobb, is now one half of CarréDucker. While noting that most of her “more modern” customers are style-focused, and “couldn’t care less whether they’re dealt with by a man or a woman”, Carré says that if she tells someone she’s a shoemaker, there’s still the assumption that she means high heels.

When it comes to shirtmakers, there’s Ana Santamaria, from the family firm Santamaria Shirtmakers in Notting Hill, while Emma Willis is the lone female denizen of that other stomping ground of maleness, Mayfair’s Jermyn Street.During the early years of her business, Willis found it tough to be accepted: “It’s definitely still a surprise for some people.”

She also notes that more and more of those requesting internships with her are young women – which, as with tailoring, is no bad thing for any craft industry seeking to sustain itself over the coming decades, and is certainly a boon to future entrepreneurialism.

“That all said, I think it will be some time before the idea of women working in bespoke isn’t considered odd by your typical Savile Row guy,” says Hall with something between a chuckle and a sigh of exasperation. “‘Ooh, it’s a woman tailor!’ You still get that. ‘Yes, it is.

For goodness sake, so what?’ There needs to be more of us before that attitude goes away.”

Isleworth. “I think bespoke tailoring hasn’t typically been on most women’s radar, in part because it’s been so closely associated with menswear, but also because it’s been sold with the image of country estates and gentlemen’s clubs. But for me this isn’t about traditional style – there are no shooting jackets here, nothing stuffy or staid. It’s just about clean, modern clothing made for the individual.”

It might well be argued that this growing wave of women in tailoring is all good for the craft at large, which has historically struggled to keep pace with changing demand. Savile Row’s world-class industry has stared into the abyss more than once and for more than one reason: the old masters are retiring and few young people are interested in training; even among those who do start an apprenticeship, most drop out before completing their training. There has also been a gradual collapse in the demand for formal dress, and existing companies are facing the pressures of rent hikes and from property developers. Prior to the 1940s there were hundreds of firms operating in the Savile Row vicinity. By 1980 there were 50. Now there are perhaps 20.

In the 1990s, the first wave of the next generation of tailors – the likes of Richard James and Timothy Everest, followed by Thom Sweeney – helped British tailoring to move up a gear. Might female tailors now do the same?

They are, anecdotally at least, bringing in more female clients.

“I certainly do more tailoring for women than I used to,” says Sargent, who recently extended her Crafted made-to-measure service to women. “More and more women are getting frustrated with the process of finding things that fit them really well – their ultimate pair of trousers or jacket – only, of course, to then find that it’s not available from the brand the next season. That’s particularly the case for women in business, and more women are working in a management environment now.”

Much of the bespoke business is still male focused, she observes. “It might sound controversial, but many male colleagues don’t want to cut for women because there are fewer rules to work to and because it can be more challenging. There’s also still this marketing cliché that sells to men on the basis of their being interested in construction and craft, when actually women are too.”

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LUXURY LONDON

PROMOTION

THE CITY EDIT

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, EC3V THEROYALEXCHANGE.CO.UK

T H E R O YA L E X C H A N G E U N V E I L S I T S I N A U G U R A L L U X U R Y W E E K , A C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E B E S T B R A N D S W I T H I N T H E H I S TO R I C B U I L D I N G

BOODLES More than 400 hours of craftsmanship went into this exquisite cuff. Part of Boodles’ Wonderland collection, this unique suninspired piece comprises white and pastel diamonds, which radiate out of a central yellow stone.

POA, 3 Central Courtyard

TATEOSSIAN This refined braided black Italian leather bracelet by Tateossian has metallic silver accents and is finished with a sleek matte black rhodium clasp.

Handmade in London, it is also available in navy and brown. £269, 1/4 The Royal Exchange

Luxury Week

BREMONT UNVEILS ITS LATEST ARMY-APPROVED TIMEKEEPER As part of its Bremont Armed Forces Collection, the first line of watches approved by the Ministry of Defence to carry signs, symbols and Heraldic Badges from all three branches of Britain’s armed forces, Bremont has launched

Broadsword, a contemporary take on the Dirty Dozen watches originally created for the British armed forces during WWII. Broadsword features the chronometer rated BE-95-2AV movement inside its 40mm hardened steel case, as well as a subseconds hand at six o’clock. £2,595, 12 The Royal Exchange

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From 13-18 May, the leading luxury destination in the City, The Royal Exchange, will be hosting its inaugural Luxury Week; a celebration of the best brands within the building. Shoppers will experience tastings, watch master craftsmen at work at a selection of boutiques and take advantage of exclusive offers and promotions.

Reader Offer The Royal Exchange invites you to celebrate its inaugural Luxury Week at this unique shopping safari evening.

Discover the luxury brands and services available in this historic building and enjoy exclusive events, talks and promotions at this one-off evening.

Monday 13 May, 6:30pm-8:30pm, The Royal Exchange, EC3V Tickets are limited. To attend, please email: theroyalexchange@luxurylondon.co.uk

LUXURY LONDON

PROMOTION

S H O P P I N G SA FA R I AT T H E R OYA L E XC H A N G E A S PA R T O F T H E R O YA L E X C H A N G E ’ S I N A U G U R A L L U X U R Y W E E K , R E S I D E N T S H A L C Y O N D AY S , G R I N D , A S P I N A L O F L O N D O N A N D C U T T E R & S Q U I D G E W I L L B E H O S T I N G A N E V E N I N G O F E V E N T S , TA L K S A N D P R O M OT I O N S D U R I N G A N E XC L U S I V E S H O P P I N G S A FA R I E V E N I N G I N PA R T N E R S H I P W I T H LU X U RY LO N D O N M AG A Z I N E

GRIND Espresso bar by day and cocktail bar by night in the heart of the City, Royal Exchange Grind will be offering guests the opportunity to participate in an exclusive Espresso Martini Masterclass. Guests will learn about the beginnings of Grind, which was founded in 2015, and the history of coffee making.

This will be followed by an Espresso Martini masterclass, during which guests will shake and make their very own martinis.

H A L C Y O N D AY S Join Pamela Harper, chairman and CEO of Halcyon Days at the store’s flagship boutique. Harper will lead a talk about the history of the business, the art of enamelling and what it means to hold not one but three Royal Warrants – leading onto a discussion about jewellery trends. After the talk, guests will have the opportunity to try their hand at styling their very own Halcyon Days look while enjoying a glass of champagne.

ASPINAL OF LONDON At Aspinal of London’s Royal Exchange store, all guests will be gifted a beautiful card holder from the leather brand’s SS19 collection. For a personal touch, be sure to take advantage of the free monogramming service.

CUTTER & SQUIDGE Finish the walking tour with a prosecco cake tasting at Cutter & Squidge’s new boutique. The brand is best known for being London’s only all-natural cake bakery with a less is more approach to the use of fats and sugars. While enjoying their refreshments, guests will get to decorate their own personalised Biskie (a type of sandwiched dessert) to take home. Cutter & Squidge will also be extending a 15 per cent discount at this exclusive closed-door event.

For further information on The Royal Exchange’s Luxury Week, please visit theroyalexchange.co.uk

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SPIRIT OF A DV E NT U R E Words: Dom Jeffares

G O AT PA C K Handmade in Somerset from British goat leather, the roll-top construction on this backpack allows for flexible loads, providing an extra six litres of volume.

You’ll be doing the planet a favour too; the leather is tanned entirely in Britain. £650, billytannery.co.uk

ISOLA D’ISCHIA Ischia, a volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, is known for its mineral-rich thermal waters.

It also provided the backdrop for stylish crime-thriller The Talented Mr Ripley, starring Jude Law, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow.

LEICA D-LUX 7 We’re strong proponents of film and admire those who can harness its power, but when you’re on the move there’s nothing better than an evening spent looking through the day’s

action. Leica’s inconspicuous D-LUX 7 is incredibly compact, and is just as comfortable in the hands of a beginner as a seasoned pro. £995, leica-camera.com

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DENIM SHIRT In Sweden, Stenstrӧms are the favoured shirt maker of the Swedish royal family, and have been granted a royal warrant.

Versatile, effortless and hardwearing, this denim shirt is the perfect traveller’s companion. £139, stenstroms.com

M A N N Y PA N T S They say that to style oneself like a Neapolitan, one should dress even more ‘British’ than a British gent. Neapolitan brand Rubinacci has recreated the Gurkha trouser, which was a staple of British colonial expats in North Africa and India. Two side tabs ensure the perfect fit without a belt. £310, marianorubinacci.net C L A S S I C C H E C K- I N TRUNK A design icon, German-made Rimowa cases are sculpted in anodized aluminium and not as heavy as their looks suggest; their medium-sized case, for example, only weighs five kilos. And they can sure take a beating – there are reports of them being excavated from plane crashes unscathed. £960, rimowa.com

E X P L O R E R I I R E F. 16570 Designed to be tested to the extreme, a predecessor of this watch accompanied Sir Edmund Hillary up Everest.

Beautifully functional and understated, the Explorer II has been used by Special Forces of the British military. timerediscovered.com

PA R A B O O T C H A M F O R T Run by fourth-generation family members in the heart of the Alps, Paraboot is a slice of artisanal France. For the adventurer these boots can be relied on like an old labrador. With a Norwegian welt for water resistance, the path ahead is yours to take. £360, paraboot.com

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S O L E S U R V I V O R M A D E I N E N G L A N D S I N C E 1 8 8 6 , J O S E P H C H E A N E Y & S O N S S H O E S H AV E B E E N G R A C I N G T H E F E E T O F D I S C E R N I N G P U R C H A S E R S F O R W E L L O V E R A C E N T U R Y. C O - O W N E R W I L L I A M C H U R C H , W H O M A R K S 1 0 Y E A R S AT T H E B U S I N E S S ’ S H E L M T H I S S U M M E R , D I S C U S S E S T H E C H A N G I N G PAC E O F T H E F O OT W E A R I N D U S T RY A N D H O W H E ’ S S T R I V I N G T O S TAY O N E S T E P A H E A D

Words: Josh Sims

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J

ust a few years ago Joseph Cheaney might have been one of the great English men’s shoemakers that you’d never heard of. Certainly it would have been one of few 120-yearold companies that you’d never heard of. The company had long concentrated on private label contract work, making shoes for the likes of Gieves & Hawkes and Ralph Lauren, rather than producing footwear bearing the Cheaney name, explains William Church, one of the company’s co-owners and joint managing director. “But at least that had given us a lot of confidence,” he says. “You know if you can make shoes for brands like those, you can sell them with Cheaney stamped in them.”

A decade ago this summer, Church – a fifthgeneration member of the Church’s shoe family – decided to put that to the test. Joseph Cheaney & Sons was established in 1886 in Desborough, Northamptonshire – the heartland of British high-end shoemaking. Since the 1960s it had largely existed under the radar as part of the Church’s group. Prada acquired the group in 1999 and a decade later it was sold to William Church and his cousin Jonathan Church, both directors of Church’s at the time.

“It was a big decision for us,” says William Church. “We were among the younger members of the Church family and perhaps were more open to new ideas. We felt that, while Cheaney

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had this great pedigree, it needed direction.” It was an advantage, he says, that nobody else had previously tried this – and therefore hadn’t failed. “Of course, although you have all the reasons to take such a step, you also have a handbrake in the back of your mind.

You have a salary and a pension, you’re in a certain comfort zone, and as soon as we signed the documents resigning our directorships of Church’s we were on our own. But this felt like a now or never opportunity.”

It was an opportunity the duo has successfully parlayed into becoming one of the more progressive of England’s Goodyear-welted shoemakers (Goodyear welting is a labour-intensive manufacturing technique whereby the upper is attached to the sole by means of a leather strip, or welt, making the shoe watertight but also allowing the sole to be easily replaced).

Growing without external investment, only as profits have allowed, Cheaney now has 10 shops, eight of them in London, the most recent being in the Kings Cross Coal Drops Yard development. The brand has launched its first women’s shoes. It has doubled turnover – to more than £10m for the first time in the company’s history – and scooped a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade. It has collaborated with the likes of Barbour, Sunspel, Vivienne Westwood and, most recently, sustainable outfitter Tengri, with which it’s launched a brogue featuring the first yakhair insole. It has won a solid reputation for retaining its traditional manufacturing standards – “after all, what we were really buying when we acquired Cheaney was a skill set, the ability to make high-grade shoes from start to finish,” Church notes. And, unlike a lot

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The renaissance of Cheaney, however, goes beyond the shoes themselves. Church stresses how important the shops have been to making a name for the company, and for giving it the opportunity to build an image for the brand, from the presentation and packaging to the interior design – which is more a cool industrial aesthetic than the clubby wood panelling of most traditional men’s shoe shops.

“It’s deliberately counter to the way in which most Northampton shoes are sold. But even I underestimated the power of retail in making Cheaney what it is now,” says Church. “All of us here are born and bred manufacturers. But having our own shops has clearly had a huge impact in term of getting Cheaney better known. And thankfully opening shops didn’t conflict with any existing distribution because, well, there wasn’t any really...”

The company has also taken a more progressive stance behind the scenes. Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge Cheaney faces is sustaining its skills base.

“Finding people with the right aptitude to train as a shoemaker was easy when there were dozens of shoe factories in Northamptonshire, but that’s not the case any more. Being here since 1886, you’d think we’d be perceived as a stable employment opportunity.”

One approach to attracting talent is investing in technology. Traditionally, for example, shoe leathers were placed on a cutting table and the clicker (the industry term for the cutter) then cut out the required pieces using a physical template. But Cheaney recently invested in a CAD (computer-aided design) machine that projects the template and cuts the leathers automatically. This reduces tooling costs, since much of the process can now be done on screen, which in turn means that shorter runs of new styles can be made.

“We’d only invest in any tech like this if we felt it could do the job better than by hand. We wouldn’t otherwise undermine what is historically the craft of shoemaking,” says Church. “But it also seems that young apprentices relate to the idea of using technology’ more readily than they do to the idea of cutting by hand day after day.”

Such a bold move is perhaps just the first of many.

After all, the re-imagined Joseph Cheaney & Sons has come a long way in just a short time. “A decade ago it was all pretty much just a blank sheet of paper,” says Church. “You open the first shop in London and there’s great fanfare, a real buzz about it all. Then you find yourself opening the 10th and it’s just another shop. So we can’t stop here. We know Cheaney has got to stay fresh as it matures.”

of its Northamptonshire competitors, it gives its shoes a contemporary edge in terms of shape and colour.

Church believes this is the reason Cheaney is equally successful in both fashionable shopping districts such as Coal Drops Yard and Shoreditch, and in more traditional menswear destinations such as Jermyn Street. “Some Northampton makers are very classic, highly traditional, with the focus all being on quality. It’s horses for courses, of course, but that alone is not for everyone. We saw an opportunity to do something a little bit different from the others.”

As he observes, £350 spent on a pair of shoes is not a casual purchase. “Men want quality, but they’re also much more knowledgeable and style-conscious now,” he says. “And men wear these kinds of shoes differently, too. In this trade you can’t help but look at men’s shoes. You see some men in immaculate tailoring, but they don’t have the quality of shoes to match. But then you’ll see a man dressed very casually, but they have a pair of Goodyear-welted shoes. Men are using such shoes to dress up their more relaxed attire now. And it looks great.”

Producing shoes that a younger generation of men want to wear is arguably crucial to the long-term future of the entire Northamptonshire shoemaking world, all the more so given that these men are being raised on the instant comfort of trainers. Convincing these potential customers that a very solid pair of Goodyearwelted shoes will be the most comfortable footwear they own if they just give it six months of breaking in isn’t an easy sales pitch. After this amount of time, the leather has softened and the shoes’ cork beds have moulded to the particularities of the wearer’s feet. Cheaney has introduced developments such as building a shape-retaining rubber layer into its construction to give added cushioning under the heel, where the majority of downward pressure is felt in a flat shoe. But some customers still take convincing.

“A Goodyear-welted construction is generally understood here in the UK but not universally, and there are plenty of people you could go up to in the street and say ‘Goodyear welting’ and they wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about, so we still have to outline the benefits,” explains Church. “There are places, such as China, where they’re only starting to understand Goodyear welting, so there’s potential for growth for all of us makers abroad.” Even in the UK, however, he says that showing a customer around the factory involves “something of a wow factor”. “They see what goes into Northampton shoes like these and are often pretty surprised that a pair is only the price that it is. Of course, the trick for us is to convey that to all the people who can’t come to the factory.”

cheaney.co.uk

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ORIGINAL, LIMITED-EDITION ART DECO POSTERS

Limited to editions of 280, our newly-commissioned Art Deco posters feature glamorous holiday destinations around the world, ski resorts in the Austrian, French and Swiss Alps, and the world’s greatest historic automobiles. Over 100 designs to choose from, all printed on 100% cotton fine art paper, measuring 97 x 65 cms.

Priced at £395 each.

Private commissions are also welcome.

Pullman Editions Ltd 94 Pimlico Road Chelsea London SW1W 8PL www.pullmaneditions.com Tel: +44 (0)20 7730 0547 Email: georgina@pullmaneditions.com

Our central London gallery

All images and text copyright © Pullman Editions Ltd. 2019

View and buy online at w w w.pullmaneditions.com Pullman Ed Luxury London April 2019.indd 1

12/03/2019 15:09

ESCAPE TO ST R I V E , TO S E E K , TO F I N D. . .

INSIDE AFRICA P.106 HIGH LIFE An adrenaline-fuelled Moroccan adventure

P.110 WILD THING The conservation-first Zimbabwean safaris

P.115 NEW WAVE A sea safari in South Africa’s Western Cape

P.120 CLOUD WINE Finding vino-heaven in Franschhoek Valley

Volcanoes Safaris, the first company to set up a safari camp in Uganda and Rwanda’s gorilla parks, is striving to protect the endangered species (p.104)

EXTRAORDINARY

Wild Coast Tented Lodge, Yala, Sri Lanka.

Photo by Anna Lisa & Porter @recesscity_coll

We look beyond the ordinary, creating bespoke experiences that ignite the senses, materialise even the wildest dreams and make every possibility a reality. Discover travel through Carrier’s eyes and you’ll never see the world in the same way again.

Search Carrier Holidays

Visit: carrier.co.uk Call: 0161 826 1914

O U T

O F

A F R I C A T H E L AT E S T I N L U X U R Y T R AV E L S O U T H O F T H E S A H A R A

Words: Ellen Millard

G EM F I EL DS A N D NATI O N A L G E O G R A P H I C U N I TE TO SU P P OR T V I TA L P ROJ E C TS I N A F R I C A National Geographic is shining a light on vital projects supported by Gemfields, a leading supplier of responsibly-sourced coloured gemstones, in two short films shot by photographer and filmmaker Shannon Wild. Located in Zambia and Mozambique, where Gemfields has mining operations, the projects aim to protect rich biodiversity and promote sustainable livelihoods for local communities.

The first film, shot in Zambia’s Kafue National Park, showcases the Zambian Carnivore Programme, which studies large carnivores such as lions, cheetahs and wild dogs, and also addresses threats to them and

their ecosystem. It also highlights the innovative collar tracking system that the programme has introduced.

The second film explores three of Gemfields’ Mozambican community projects – a school, two mobile health clinics and a farming association – which are in the vicinity of Montepuez, a ruby mine owned by the brand. Before Gemfields’ mining operations were introduced in this area, the remote community had little to no access to healthcare. Now, two clinics serve six villages of around 10,000 people. gemfields.com

A S O L A R - P OW E R E D SAFARI C A M P O P E N S I N TH E N A MI B I A N DE S E R T Sat atop a group of boulders in the Namibian desert, Sonop comprises 10 luxury tents inspired by the British explorers who visited the African nation during the early 20th century.

Created by Zannier Hotels, which opened its first Namibian outpost last year, the hotel offers guests a taste of what it was like for the explorers to live in complete isolation – but with the bonus of luxury amenities.

The tents, eight of which are onebedroom and two of which are twobedroom, are equipped with WiFi and air-conditioning and are decorated with ornate objects such as vintage maps and magnifying glasses.

To keep guests entertained, there’s a spa with two treatment rooms and an outdoor heated pool with views over the desert dunes, plus a host of outdoor excursions offered within the 5,600 hectares of private reserve.

At night, guests can watch classic films at Sonop's open-air cinema – if they can bear to drag their gaze away from the stars.

From approx. £495, per person per night, full board, zannierhotels.com

LUXURY LONDON

ESCAPE AFRICA SPECIAL

Z U R I Z A N Z I B A R AWA R D E D WO R L D ' S F I RST S U STA I N A B L E DE S I G N AWA R D A luxury Zanzibar hotel has been honoured with EarthCheck’s first sustainable design gold certification. The international award recognises travel and tourism companies that have an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable design.

Zuri Zanzibar, which is located in Kendwa, opened last year and comprises 55 bungalows, suites and beach villas, the latter of which are perched on a private white-sand beach.

The hotel scooped the gong for its dedication to sustainable energy use (energy use per

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guest per night at the hotel is 52 per cent below EarthCheck’s baseline), its self-sufficient water sources and the sustainable materials and resource conservation that went into building the hotel. It was also recognised for its social, cultural and economic wellbeing commitments, including its Pack to Give initiative, which encourages guests to bring essentials such as towels and glasses on holiday with them, in order to directly donate them to the local community. zurizanzibar.com

CLOCKWISE FROM RIGHT VIEW FROM SINAMATELLA; VIRUNGA LODGE; GORILLA AT VIRUNGA LODGE

LOOKI N G F OR G OR I L L AS I N RWA N DA A N D U G A N DA More than 20 years ago, Volcanoes Safaris set up its first camps in Uganda and Rwanda’s gorilla parks, located in the Virunga Mountain range. Founder Praveen Moman, a former political advisor, pioneered the development of sustainable gorilla and chimpanzee tourism in the two regions, building luxury lodges that are sensitive to the local region and which employ many local people. Today, Volcanoes Safaris is considered the leading luxury lodge company in both countries and Moman has been recognised for his conservation efforts.

The company has four eco-friendly luxury lodges to choose from – three in Uganda and one in Rwanda's Parc National des Volcans, where more than half the world's gorilla population resides. Volanoes Safaris offers four-, six- and seven-day trips, which incorporate treks to find mountain gorillas, golden monkeys and chimpanzees.

Scott Dunn offers an eight-night gorilla safari adventure to Uganda and Rwanda from £10,400 per person between June and September, including international and domestic flights and private transfers throughout, scottdunn.com

LUXURY LONDON

ESCAPE AFRICA SPECIAL

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TURN UP THE

H E AT THE IGO ADVENTURES MOROCCO CHALLENGE PUTS STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE TO THE TEST IN A GRUELLING M U LT I - D I S C I P L I N E J O U R N E Y AC R O S S T H E R O C K S A N D WA D I S O F T H E A G A FAY D E S E R T T O T H E AT L A S M O U N TA I N S

Words: Hugh Francis Anderson

I

t’s 40°C, shimmering hot air rises from the moon-like terrain around me like a mirage, and my legs pump frantically at the pedals of my bike. I look up to see the Atlas Mountains rise endlessly on the horizon. Sweat cascades off my face and pours onto the sand around my tyres. I’m in the Agafay Desert in Morocco, on the first of the four stages that made up the 2017 IGO Adventures Morocco Challenge. “What have I got myself into?” I ask myself.

I first encountered IGO Adventures back in 2016 when I took part in the inaugural N60° – The Norwegian Challenge, a four-day, four-discipline quadrathlon through the mountains of Norway during winter. Though the structure of IGO’s offerings has since changed, it was on that journey that I experienced the three pillars of IGO Adventures: lifechanging adventure, wilderness and camaraderie. I also made lifelong friends, and when I heard that the team at IGO HQ was establishing a Moroccan event, I invited one of those friends, Will, to join me.

Over four days, we would cycle, run and kayak more than 150km, from the depths of the desert to one of the highest mountains in the Atlas range – all in blistering heat. Thankfully, as I discovered on the Norwegian journey, competition plays a substantially smaller part in IGO Adventures events than you might imagine. The expedition is designed “to allow ordinary people to go through a journey of personal achievement and discovery in the most magical way possible,” explains founder Bobby Melville, “while trying to bring the entire group together for the feeling of teamwork and camaraderie.”

Our Moroccan adventure begins at Terre des Etoiles, a luxurious desert camp in Marrakesh. Here, we spend two days acclimatising and taking part in pre-event training. Before long, race day dawns. We clamber into our cycling gear, double-check we have enough water, electrolytes and energy gels, and make our way to the start line. Today will see us cycle 50km through the desert, rising gradually into the foothills of the Atlas Mountains before settling down for the night on the banks of Lake Lalla Takerkoust. Explorer and endurance athlete George Bullard, chief IGO ambassador, sounds the horn and we rise out of our saddles to charge across the start line.

Within minutes the route takes us into a sand-filled wadi (dry river bed), and people begin to tumble. As the heat rises, the only solace from the penetrating scorch is to pedal faster in order to feel the breeze against my face; it may feel like a hair dryer, but it’s better than nothing. My legs begin to burn as the lactic acid attacks my thighs. I wince with every uphill pedal

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In the brief moments between pangs of agony, I notice just how dramatic the scenery is stroke, but eventually we begin to descend, and Lake Lalla Takerkoust appears before us. In little over three hours, I have made it through the first stage.

We’re up before dawn on day two, and the cool 25°C is a delight. Today we will kayak around Lake Lalla Takerkoust to various checkpoints before orienteering on foot to the next camp. Will and I grab our paddles, race down to the lake, and jump aboard our two-man kayak. With quick, powerful strokes, we career around the lake in little over an hour.

Back on dry land, we change into our running shoes, pick up a map and a compass, and head off in the direction of the Atlas Mountains. With no route planned out for us, we must find our own way to the checkpoints, and eventually our second camp. Alas, before long we’ve lost our bearings – and find a pair of fellow participants in the same predicament. In true IGO spirit, we pledge to stay together and work as a four-man team for the day; over the next nine and a half hours, we travel some 45km upwards, through arid fields, and across the eversteepening foothills. The 37°C heat penetrates deep and works hard to defeat us, but we eventually make it into our second camp. We devour a locally prepared tagine and fall asleep to the sound of musicians performing traditional Moroccan songs. It’s magical.

I arise exhausted on the penultimate day. The heat and duration of the previous day has taken its toll, and today will be no easier. With 45km of uphill mountain biking, taking us deep into the heart of the Atlas Mountains, there’s a feeling of nervousness in camp.

Before long we’re on our bikes and hammering up the rocky tracks. With numerous mechanical issues along the way, I feel my energy levels quickly fade, and by the end of the day, I’ve collapsed three times with heat exhaustion.

Every participant that passes me stops to offer hydration and energy bars; not one leaves me alone, and I praise their resilience. In the brief moments between pangs of agony, I notice just how dramatic the scenery is, and how much it has changed. Two days ago, we were in the desert, with nothing but sand, rock and sky around us; now we’re on forest tracks that cut their way through jagged mountains. I’m mesmerised.

When I finally approach the finish line, all those already through clamber down the rocky slope to cheer me on. Later that evening, as we sit in our camp consuming rehydrated meals, I look at the mountain peaks in the distance. Tomorrow we will climb up one

of those mountains to the final camp in Oukaïmeden, incidentally also Africa’s highest ski resort. I find it almost impossible to fathom that last statement.

We rise early on the final morning, and although everybody is exhausted, there are only smiles to be seen on the faces around the camp. Our last leg may only be 15km, but it will be no small feat. Will and I charge off at a run along the mountain pass, before cutting sharply into the valley to begin the climb. Before long, we’re tracking along a wadi and stumbling on the loose rock beneath our feet. Eventually, we break away from the river bed and head directly up the face of the mountain.

The sun burns hard onto the backs of our necks and we pray for a breeze. On any other day, this climb would have been manageable, but after the three days we’ve just endured, it becomes increasingly challenging to stop our muscles from seizing.

Eventually we reach the summit, and we can see our final camp and the finish line 2km away on a plateau below Oukaïmeden. We charge on for the last leg of this stage. As we collapse across the line to the cheering of family and friends, Will and I embrace one another with pride. Three years ago, we met as competitors on the first IGO Adventures event, and here we are, having just completed our second event as teammates. If that doesn’t attest to the very spirit of what IGO Adventures represents, then I don’t know what does.

This year’s IGO Adventures Morocco Weekend Challenge takes place from 11-13 October, from £699 per person, igoadventures.com

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A F T E R Y E A R S O F P O L I T I C A L I N S TA B I L I T Y, Z I M B A B W E ’ S TO U R I S M I N D U S T R Y I S B E I N G R E I N V I G O R AT E D, W I T H C O N S E R VAT I O N A N D E D U C AT I O N AT I T S C O R E . A S A FA R I E X P E R I E N C E I N T H E S O U T H O F F E R S T H E C H A N C E N O T O N LY T O S E E A F R I C A’ S W I L D L I F E I N I T S N AT U R A L S TAT E , B U T A L S O TO B R OA D E N T H E M I N D

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ALL IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLI ANDERSON

ook – they’re snorkelling!” calls our guide Jephat, pointing out three colossal bull elephants. It’s probably the last thing you would expect to hear on safari, but then we’re bucking the traditional game drive trend, on a riverboat with soft white leather sofas and a cool box brimming with wine. Jephat motors off at speed, swilling waves over grumbling hippos and sending malachite kingfishers into the breeze. At the river mouth the elephants are barely visible, except for the tips of their trunks curling skyward. All at once, they emerge from the muddy depths and thunder up the bank into the riverine forest. And then there’s nothing but silent trees flushed peridot green – more like jungle than bush – and a full moon blazing brighter than the sun.

Set in the south-eastern reaches of Zimbabwe, Singita Pamushana is an exclusive safari lodge that underwent a sensitive design transformation in 2018, directed by Cape Town-based design team Cécile & Boyd. Set on a stately hilltop overlooking Malilangwe Dam, the lodge comprises eight suites, including two new two-

bedroom options, and a private five-bedroom villa nudged between sandstone boulders.

Winding paths lead past ancient baobabs to the striking main lounge, which features a huge stone hearth inspired by the ruined city of Great Zimbabwe. Adjacent is an open-air dining zone, where four pillars with intricately handset mosaics recall the days before this unique lodge was managed by the Singita group.

More mosaics lead the eye to an infinity pool at the edge of a plunging gorge. It’s surrounded by tables and chairs angled to take in the view,

All at once, the elephants emerge from muddy depths and thunder up the bank

THIS PAGE LOUNGE AT SINGITA PAMUSHANA; OPPOSITE PAGE, FROM TOP AL FRESCO DINING AT SINGITA PAMUSHANA; RIHNOS IN ZIMBABWE, PHOTOGRAPHY BY OLI ANDERSON

NEED TO KNOW Rates at Singita Pamushana Lodge start from US$1,795 per person per night, including full-board basis, twice-daily Land Rover safaris, walking safaris, boat cruises, excursions to ancient rock art sites, tennis and return road transfers between Buffalo Range International Airport and the lodge, singita.com

and behind them the thatched lounge is partly open to the elements. Meals are focused on local flavours and served in different parts of the lodge; we dine under swaying oil lamps in the boma (a traditional enclosure) and on the brink of the deck. As for Singita Pamushana’s suites, gone are the minimalist tents of oldworld safaris; my accommodation has a playful kaleidoscope of vivid colours reflecting local Shangaan heritage, with curved walls decorated in vibrant patterns. The bed looks out over a terrace and private plunge pool with jawdropping views over the gorge. The staff set up a starlit slumber bed on my deck one night, and I sleep soundly at eye-level with fish eagles.

It isn’t just remarkable design and boundless luxuries that make Singita Pamushana special; this is the only lodge in the sprawling 130,000acre Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve. Once used as a cattle ranch, the land was procured by the Malilangwe Trust in 1994, which began restoring it as a protected wilderness area. Pamushana plays an important part in generating revenue to support the trust’s conservation and community projects. Today Malilangwe’s rhino programme is so successful that some of these animals have been relocated to other reserves. The work of the trust and the remoteness of the reserve offer a twofold boon to Singita’s guests – I’m treated to countless white and black rhino sightings, not to mention lion, leopard, giraffe and elephant, and there are no other carloads of people craning for a glimpse.

It’s encouraging to see such flourishing wildlife, given this country’s complicated history.

Before independence, Zimbabwe was a staple on the safari circuit, but political instability and

violence nearly destroyed its tourism, poaching swelled, and guides left for more stable lands.

However, Zimbabwe’s tourism industry is now redeveloping with vigour and optimism, and I see this in the positive attitudes of the guides and managers at Singita Pamushana. The desire to promote conservation and encourage inbound travel, along with long-standing conservation efforts such as those at Malilangwe, offer much promise for the future – and up in the north of the country, there’s a flurry of safari lodge openings, managed by the likes of AndBeyond and Wilderness Safaris.

Zimbabwe was always known for setting guiding standards across Africa, and indeed Singita Pamushana delivers a safari experience that broadens the mind. One such pursuit is a walking safari to seek out rock art paintings dating back 2,000 years. Along the way, Jephat teaches me about the symbiotic relationships of the bush; inyala antelope graze alongside baboons, profiting from their excellent eyesight and ability to spot predators; an oxpecker bird cleans parasites from a rhino’s skin, and its cry alerts the rhino to danger. There’s also time to get a taste of local culture at Kambako village – a living museum run by village leader Julius.

The traditions of his childhood may be waning, but he seeks to preserve his heritage by sharing the secrets of the bush, such as how to make fire, forge iron for arrows and weave resilient rope from palm leaves. There are more intuitive acts too, like dowsing for ground water with freshly cut branches and identifying plants that have deadly poisonous tubers but edible fruit.

Gaining an understanding of local custom might be key to the Singita Pamushana experience, but there’s no substitute for soaking up Malilangwe’s bewitching landscapes. After early spring rains, the mopane woodlands glow luminous green as we cross the park for a final sundowner, spotting buffalo calves hiding in the shadow of parents, tiny impalas and dinky elephants. Thick vegetation gives way to open plains and a watering hole, where a flock of starlings swirls in the air like a ribbon and four white rhinos stand poised at the water’s edge.

“This,” gestures Jephat with a smile as he pours gin into a tumbler, “is one of my favourite spots.” As the sweet, delicate scent of blossoming flowers fills the air and the low drill of a cicada’s song signals the onset of dusk, I decide it might just be mine too.

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INTO THE BLUE B I G C A T S A N D W R I N K L E D E L E P H A N T S A R E U S U A L LY T H E B I G D R A W W H E N I T C O M E S TO A F R I C A’ S W I L D L I F E , B U T D I D YO U K N OW YO U C A N A L S O S A FA R I AT S E A? L I Z Z I E P O O K G O E S I N S E A R C H O F T H E M A R I N E ‘ B I G F I V E ’ O N S O U T H A F R I C A’ S W E S T E R N C A P E

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he whale in front of me is slumbering. It lolls in the water – its terrific form bobbing from side to side with the gentle swish of the ocean’s current. It has a calf with it, a replication in miniature that spy-hops and splashes in the shallow bay, thrusting its fins skywards and raising its head from the water so I can see the barnacles encrusting its head like briny jewels.

I’m in the tiny town of De Kelders on South Africa’s Western Cape. From the shoreline here it’s easy to spot some of the hundreds of southern right whales that use these waters to rest and suckle their calves each year. As I cast my eye out to sea I can see about 10 of the beasts, each with a calf, wallowing like sleeping giants in the calm, inky waters. Cape fur seals putter past too, as whale calves breach enthusiastically in the distance – hurling themselves clean out of the water in a series of gymnastic leaps – and every so often, the sound of cetaceans exhaling fills the air like heavy-duty hydraulics.

I’ve come to the Western Cape in the hope of seeing the marine Big Five: whales, sharks, seals,

dolphins and penguins. I’m well-versed in biggame safaris, having been lucky enough to witness sleuthing coalitions of cheetahs and marauding prides of lions many times. But so far, most of the marine creatures we’re looking for have proved elusive. Given that the nearby town of Gansbaai describes itself as the Serengeti of the Sea, I’m hoping that’s about to change.

My base for exploring is the haven-like Grootbos Private Nature Reserve. Occupying an area of fynbos biome stretching across 25 square kilometres, Grootbos practically explodes with a riot of flowers (there’s more plant diversity here, apparently, than in the Amazon rainforest).

Our guide Tiaan is just about the most enthusiastic person I’ve ever met, and revels in taking us on plant safaris around the property to explore its 806 species. “What I like best about plants is that they don’t run away,” he calls from the front of the jeep, as we slalom through lush fields of scabiosa, butterfly bush, sour figs and lobelia. We pass huge clown-like protea, which Tiaan leaps out of the van to sniff lustily, and whizz past plants that look

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like sweetcorn, cacti and elephant’s ears.

Back at our private villa – a glass-fronted, mahogany and marble beauty with a baby grand piano in the lobby, high-ceilinged master suites and bottles of creamy South African Amarula liqueur on the shelves – I soak up the sunset sea views as whale spouts fill the horizon. It’s spectacularly beautiful, and I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere quite so peaceful, but I’m itching to get out onto the ocean and into the path of the Big Five.

Next morning, I’m up early to head out with Dyer Island Cruises, a company that focuses on whale watching and conservation, with marine biologists on every boat. The morning is crisp, the air flecked with sea spray, and as we motor out of the harbour we’re immediately greeted with an unusual sight. A pod of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins surrounds the boat, their pinky-grey bodies glistening in the early morning sunshine and their little snub snouts breaking the water like tiny swords.

There are thought to be only about 500 individuals on the entire South African coastline, so it is a

privileged encounter indeed (and a big old tick for my Big Five checklist).

What we see next, however, breaks my heart. It’s a mother southern right whale with two calves. At first, I’m delighted to see twins. “How sweet,” I think. “How

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Dramatically buffeted by gnarly waves, the rocky islands are home to huge densities of seals special.” Until the biologists tell us that twins don’t exist in the whale world – there’s no way a mother could sustain and nurture two babies.

This calf, they say, has been separated from its own mother and has been on its own, and vulnerable, for the past few days. It has now attached itself to this mother whale and her calf in the hopes that they will look after it, and has even been trying to suckle. When it approaches the boat, they tell us it’s checking to see if we’re its mother. My heart aches even more.

But we must plough on, and as thousands-strong flocks of cormorants glide across the water in front of us, we make our way to the mistcloaked islands around Shark Alley.

Dramatically buffeted by gnarly waves, the rocky islands are home to huge

densities of seals. Thousands of the creatures bark and waddle and hoot and flop into the water to riotous effect. As we motor past Geyser Rock, great gaggles of them cling to its folds and crags – honking, chattering and draping their fleshy bodies over boulders.

The smell is overpowering, stinging my eyes and nostrils, so I’m slightly relieved when we continue on to the next island, to spot a tiny huddle of African penguins, monochromatic against an ocean of white gulls.

There’s only one animal left on my list: sharks. But the biologists aren’t confident. Killer whales, it seems, have decimated the current population of great whites, picking off the predators and leaving their bodies to wash up on nearby beaches. The remaining sharks have scarpered, meaning slim

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pickings for those, like me, who are desperate to see them.

This change has had a knockon effect for other animals. The lack of sharks means the seal population has exploded to almost uncontrollable proportions, and they’re getting lazy, hunting penguins for the fish inside their

bellies instead of heading out into the deeper waters to hunt for themselves.

Such is nature. Hopefully the sharks will return soon and balance will be restored. But my time on sea safari has been enlightening and enrapturing. And four out of five ain’t bad.

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Stay at Grootbos Private Nature Reserve from £288 per person per night based on two sharing, including accomodation full board dining and activities. South African Airways offers daily overnight flights from London to Johannesburg, with easy onward connections to over 30 destinations across Southern Africa, flysaa.com

GRAPE EXPECTATIONS A TO U R O F S O U T H A F R I C A’ S W I N E C O U N T R Y REVEALS AN ARRESTING LANDSCAPE HOME T O S O M E O F T H E B E S T V I N E YA R D S A N D V I N O IN THE WORLD

Words: James Lawrence

I THIS PAGE VIEWS OF THE VINEYARDS AT DELAIRE GRAFF AND SIMONSBERG MOUNTAIN; OPPOSITE PAGE PRESIDENTIAL LODGE AT DELAIRE GRAFF

’m sitting at a restaurant table in Stellenbosch, gazing at lush green pastures sandwiched between the mountains and sea, which expand into the breathtaking Franschhoek Valley. A chilled glass of cap classique (local sparkling wine) arrives and our convivial host explains the menu. It’s February, and there’s not a cloud in sight. If these first impressions are a sign of things to come, the Western Cape is a marketer’s dream.

It’s no surprise that the secret’s already out.

Our flight was full, rendering any hopes of commandeering an entire row academic. However, I was very generously upgraded to British Airways’ Club World, which deserves a few words. Situated on the top deck of the 747, this had touches of what you would expect in a private jet. The charming crew served champagne before take-off, the spacious seats convert into fully flat beds, and the lounge made the whole experience a delight.

Feeling remarkably fresh and energised, we started our adventure at Majeka House. Ideally situated at the heart of the Stellenbosch wine zone, this five-star hotel has 23 individually designed apartments in four categories and caters to wine enthusiasts, gourmets and those who simply want to relax in luxurious comfort.

The real attraction, though, is the location; Stellenbosch is only 10 minutes away and Cape Town airport is an easy drive of less than an hour.

And while the Boland (upland) region stretching inland and upwards from Cape Town isn’t the only wine-growing region in South Africa, it’s certainly the most beautiful. If you’re short of time, the following estates, at least in my summation, are the cream of the crop.

Kleine Zalze not only makes some of the country’s best wines, it also keeps visitors enchanted with its restaurant, Terroir. Since opening in October 2004, Terroir has become one of the most soughtafter gourmet destinations in the Cape Winelands.

The experience – from the innovative take on local dishes to the excellent wine pairing and slick service – was outstanding. Expectations were set very dangerously high for what was to follow, but these were surpassed again and again.

Jordan Wine Estate is another standout destination, renowned for the quality of its wines as well as for its tourism offering. We spent an evening in one of the highly vaunted suites, with a panoramic view of the vineyards and Stellenbosch Mountains.

The complimentary bottle of the estate’s wine started the proceedings nicely, before we enjoyed a gourmet feast at the Jordan Restaurant. Chef George Jardine, who trained under Michelin-starred chef Jean-Christophe Novelli in London, is one of South Africa’s best. Suffice to say, what appeared from the kitchen was Michelin quality in every detail, a recurring theme throughout our week.

Constantia Glen is perhaps Cape Town’s most accessible winery, being less than 20 minutes from the centre by taxi. Owned by the charming Alexander Waibel, this premium winery is situated in the Cape’s oldest wine region, Constantia, which dates back to 1685. The former cowshed, located on the farm’s most scenic spot, has been converted into an elegant tasting room. Today it can seat up to 200 people for a wine tasting and light lunch comprising platters of cheese, salami and smoked trout.

Food, however, is a sideline to the more serious business of producing good vino. Waibel has stuck rigidly to his original plan of creating bordeauxstyle wines, concentrating on just four: two reds

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“We saw a difference within the first year after introducing music to the vineyards” (Constantia Glen Three and Five) and two whites (Constantia Glen Two, a sémillon and sauvignon blanc blend, and a 100 per cent sauvignon blanc).

But there’s always serious competition in the Cape. Wines from Mullineux, the Swartland region’s most renowned producer, are available at the Wine Studio, an oenophile’s paradise attached to Leeu Estates in Franschhoek Valley. This 17-room country house and boutique winery offers exactly what we’d come to expect – spa, pool, restaurant, slick service, inspiring views and tranquillity all present and correct. We enjoyed a superlative lunch in the hotel’s restaurant that left our waistlines groaning and our taste buds gently sighing with delight.

DeMorgenzon, a leading producer of chenin blanc perched high above the valley, takes things

one step further. Its owners, not content with meticulously pruning and caring for their vines, connect speakers to every row and play them baroque music 24/7. It sounds like a gimmick, but owner Hylton Appelbaum explained the reasoning behind it.

“My vines clearly respond to the sound waves from melodic baroque music; they show greater vigour and are healthier as a result,” he said. “We saw a difference within the first year after introducing music to the vineyards.” There’s no restaurant, just a picturesque, discreet tasting room where his proselytising can be put to the test.

It’s a million miles away from the experience at Delaire Graff, our next destination. Owned by Laurence Graff, founder of the international Graff

THIS PAGE POOL SUITE AT MAJEKA HOUSE; OPPOSITE PAGE FROM TOP MOUNTAIN VIEW SUITE AT MAJEKA HOUSE; LEEU ESTATES

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world-class cocktail bars, where the drinks and tapas have sustainability, seasonality and quality in mind.

Our base for the final leg of the adventure was the magnificent Cape Grace, a deluxe hotel on its own quay, with Table Mountain right behind, said to be popular with Barack Obama. The hotel’s décor is exquisite – every corridor and room is outfitted with a mix of antiques and reproductions, and flamboyant touches such as chandeliers dripping with bits of what appear to be colonial-era artefacts. The sizeable pool and alfresco bar terrace offered a welcome respite from the heat, and provided a wonderful space in which to mourn our last few hours before our taxi duly arrived to take us to the airport.

For tourists, this part of the world has a lot to offer: an incredible landscape, exquisite culinary offering and some of the world’s best wineries. It’s all worth raising a glass to.

jewellery empire, Delaire Graff is unashamedly lavish: the lodge and spa are arguably South Africa’s most luxurious, while the restaurant boasts the region’s most majestic views – which in this part of the world is saying a lot – of the Helshoogte mountain pass. But the views don’t do all the talking here as the culinary skills on display at the restaurant were also exceptional.

Feeling guilty about all this indulgence, we decided to dedicate some time to exploring the region on foot. The hiking options, particularly on the legendary Garden Route, are endless, but being short of time we chose to become acquainted with the Cederberg mountain range. Two hundred kilometres north of Cape Town, the sandstone formations, rock art by the indigenous San people and craggy mountains make this a must-see wilderness. Hiking trails criss-cross a 240-sq-km area.

We decided to explore the Wolfberg Cracks, which are breathtaking. You’ll need to hire a car, as public transport to the mountains is non-existent.

Visiting Hermanus (122km east of Cape Town) was equally memorable. A quintessential, picturepostcard seaside resort, Hermanus has prospered as a major tourist destination (there’s a whale watching festival in September) and as a gateway to the magnificent Hemel-en-Aarde wine region – perhaps the greatest source of pinot noir outside Burgundy. The jewel in the crown is Hamilton Russell Vineyards, which continue to produce some of the finest chardonnay and pinot noir in South Africa. Run by the congenial Anthony Hamilton Russell, this superstar winery welcomes visitors with open arms. We whiled away too many hours in the lakeside-facing tasting room, run by an extremely charming team of staff.

The wines at Newton Johnson are excellent and better still is the eatery, The Restaurant at Newton Johnson. Easily accessible from Hermanus, the restaurant sensibly offers a concise menu; with only a few options for each course, the small kitchen focuses on perfection and on special attention to the provenance of ingredients. The results were nuanced and delicious.

Of course, beguiling Cape Town itself must not be omitted. The city is peppered with fine restaurants, theatres, museums and art galleries, while the surrounding areas offer encounters with penguins, whales and baboons. We played it safe on our last day, though, and enjoyed a few libations in De Waterkant, Cape Town’s most colourful district.

Afterwards we headed to Harringtons Cocktail Lounge, a star in Cape Town’s growing firmament of

British Airways flies daily from Heathrow to Cape Town.

Club World fares start at £3,423 return, 0344 493 0787, ba.com; Majeka House, from £137 per person per night bed and breakfast, majekahouse.co.za; Cape Grace, from £452, capegrace.com

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Wetherby Gardens, Earl's Court SW5 This immaculate property has been redesigned to create a modern living space with meticulous attention to detail, whilst maintaining the historic Victorian grandeur.

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Giles Barrett looks forward to helping you. giles.barrett@knightfrank.com 020 3641 6123

A beautiful period building Award-winning Communal Garden Benefitting from a terrace Approximately 2,997 sq ft (278 sq m)

Guide price

£6,950,000

Leasehold: approximately 998 years remaining knightfrank.co.uk Connecting people & property, perfectly.

Connecting people & property, perfectly.

Coleherne Mews, Chelsea SW10 A beautiful Chelsea mews house that has been extended and refurbished to exacting standards throughout.

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Benefits from a spacious roof terrace All bedrooms have en suite bathrooms Bespoke fittings throughout Approximately 2,000 sq ft (185.8 sq m)

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Robert French looks forward to helping you. robert.french@knightfrank.com 020 8128 9743

Guide price £3,500,000 Freehold

Upper Cheyne Row, Chelsea SW3 Nestled amongst the Queen Anne and Grade II listed properties that are synonymous with Old Chelsea.

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Incredibly spacious entertaining areas Just undergone extensive redevelopment Behind beautiful wooden automatic gates Approximately 6,947 sq ft (645 sq m)

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James Pace looks forward to helping you. james.pace@knightfrank.com

Guide price £22,000,000 Freehold

020 8128 9743

knightfrank.co.uk Connecting people & property, perfectly.

All potential tenants should be advised that, as well as rent, an administration fee of £288 and referencing fees of £48 per person will apply when renting a property. There will also be a £48 charge to register your deposit with the Tenancy Deposit Scheme if applicable. (All fees shown are inclusive of VAT.) Please ask us for more information about other fees that will apply or visit www.knightfrank.co.uk/tenantfees. Knight Frank is a member of the ARLA Client Money Protection Scheme and our redress scheme for consumers is Property Redress Scheme.

LUXURY LONDON

PROPERTY

SPOTLIGHT A P E N T H O U S E A PA R T M E N T I N T H E C I T Y W I T H A M P L E S PAC E F O R E N T E R TA I N I N G

T

his two-bedroom duplex penthouse apartment crowns one of the two Bezier towers in the heart of the City. The space spans 2,610 sq ft and boasts a 1,549 sq ft wraparound roof terrace with views of the capital.

Inside, an open-plan living room features a Bulthaup custom-designed kitchen with integrated Gaggenau appliances and handcrafted cabinetry. Two bedrooms – each with their own balcony – harbour en suite bathrooms and walk-in-wardobes, while a neighbouring study provides opportunity for a third bedroom.

Upstairs, a grand living room takes over the entire floor, where large floor-to-ceiling windows provide enviable vistas over the city. Perfect for entertaining, the wraparound terrace has an eight-person hot tub, a weatherproof television and an outdoor kitchen.

The building itself provides a 24- hour concierge, a residents-only gym and health suite, including sauna and steam room, as well as an underground car park.

Offers in excess of £4.5m, 020 3176 1270, easthaus.co.uk

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Grosvenor Square, Mayfair The Grosvenor Square Apartments are located in desirable Mayfair, between the wonderful, green, open spaces of Hyde Park and the vibrant, cosmopolitan bustle of the West End. Luxury retailers are a five minute walk away as are many of London’s finest dining experiences.

“Exceptional apartments, unrivalled service” Pegasi Management Company Limited 207 Sloane Street London SW1X 9QX E: enquiries@pegasi.co.uk | T: +44 (0)207 245 4500 pegasi.co.uk

NEW YORK

Paris Forino Designed Sublime 5,444sf Full Floor Five Bedroom Masterpiece/ 66 Ninth Avenue Residence 6 - New York City After years of dreaming, designing and constructing, this breathtaking masterpiece has come to life and is simply stated, extraordinary. Sublime, contemporary, tailored beauty at every turn, residence six is a dream home in every detail, in every square inch and is the new definition of an ultra-luxurious, tailor-made private residence.

Discover. Explore, adore. Acquire. 5,444 square feet full floor, 5 bedrooms, 6.5 baths, separate library and den, private terrace. $29,000,000

Jessica C. Campbell 1-917-621-7815 jessicac@nestseekers.com

Grand European Villa 13319 Mulholland Drive Beverly Hills Hidden behind gates & down the private cobblestone driveway is Villa Soigni with commanding views of the San Fernando Valley. On over 2/3 of an acre & apx. 7,900 sq. ft the home is distinguished by over sized rooms with abundant natural light and 30 ft. ceilings. Stunning marble floors, exquisite moldings & an 8 ft fireplace, pool and spa. Upstairs are 4 ensuite bedrooms, extremely large master suite with room like walk in closet, grand remodeled bathroom, fireplace & 2 terraces complete. Main floor includes guest suite and library. Three car garage & large motor court complete this wonderful private mini estate. $8,490,000

Marisa Zanuck 1-310-913-1741 Marisa@nestseekers.com

NEW YORK | HAMPTONS | GOLD COAST, LI | NEW JERSEY | MIAMI | SAN FRANCISCO | BEVERLY HILLS | LONDON | SEOUL Nest Seekers International is a Real Estate broker. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and has been compiled from sources deemed reliable. Though information is believed to be correct, it is presented subject to errors, omissions, changes or withdrawal without notice.

Harrington Gardens, South Kensington Modern living in a classic London location. A bespoke, 2500 sqft, three bedroom triplex apartment in the heart of South Kensington, with cool design touches throughout.

The space would suit those looking for a turn-key, one-off¬ place, just moments from world class amenities around South Ken, Chelsea and Knightsbridge. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 floors and terrace. Tenure: leasehold, 135 years. £5,250,000

Solly Strickland +44 7702 669 647 SollyS@NestSeekers.com | Daniel McPeake +44 7809 351 114 DanielMc@nestseekers.com

Burns Road, Battersea

The Observatory Penthouse, Fulham

A completely bespoke property which forms part of one of London’s finest loft developments, Southside Quarter, just moments from Battersea Park and only 1 mile from the new American Embassy. The ground floor features a wonderful reception room, with double height ceilings, vast period windows and beautiful stone floors. This 2036sqft property is perfect for those looking for a completely unique home with great security and off-street parking just across the river from Chelsea.

Tenure: Freehold. £1,600,000

Iconic West London Penthouse. Located in the heart of Munster Village, the penthouse at Brandon House is the perfect marriage of post-industrial warehouse living with striking modern architecture, with over 3000 sqft of internal space. 3 bedrooms , 2 bathrooms, 60ft living room, glass observatory, huge roof terrace with panoramic London views, direct lift access, double garage.

Tenure: leasehold, 978 years. £2,850,000

Solly Strickland +44 7702 669 647 SollyS@NestSeekers.com Daniel McPeake +44 7809 351 114 DanielMc@nestseekers.com

Solly Strickland +44 7702 669 647 SollyS@NestSeekers.com Daniel McPeake +44 7809 351 114 DanielMc@nestseekers.com

NestSeekers.com

STREETS AHEAD DISTINCTIVE HOMES ON THE PROPERTY MARKET THIS MONTH

S K E E L L I B R A R Y, NW3

Hampstead’s Grade II-listed Skeel Library – originally built in 1904 for the campus of Westfield College – is being restored into a four-storey house of more than 5,000 sq ft. Due to complete in 2020, the project is part of Hampstead Manor, a new development arranged around a series of communal gardens close to Hampstead Village. £7.95m, themodernhouse.com

LUXURY LONDON

PROPERTY

C A R LOS P L AC E , W 1 K

Inspired by the surrounding fashion boutiques and adjacent Connaught Hotel, this three-bedroom duplex apartment on Carlos Place has been designed by Auberry of London and has exquisite marble and brushed brass detailing throughout.

Highlights include a grand elliptical staircase and a Regency fireplace. £7.95m, 020 7529 5566, wetherell.co.uk

W H I T E C I T Y, W 1 2

Located in White City Living, the 10-acre development in the heart of west London, The Bowery offers a selection of one- and two-bedroom properties, each with its own private balcony. Residents will have access to the development’s wellness factilies – a gym, spa, and swimming pool with adjoining sun terrace – which are located within The Bowery building. from £725,000, 020 3002 9462, whitecityliving.co.uk

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Stunning Knightsbridge apartment Trevor Square, SW7 Knightsbridge Underground Station: 0.2 miles This interior designed apartment has been refurbished to the highest of standards and is situated in an exclusive development in Trevor Square, reception room/dining room, 2 en suite bedrooms, guest cloakroom, South-facing private terrace, air conditioning throughout, private underground parking, 24 hour security and concierge, EPC = C

Leasehold approximately 981 years remaining | 1,607 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ4.95 million

Tom Wilson Savills Sloane Street Residential Sales 020 7730 0822 twilson@savills.com

Stunning Peterborough Estate house Bradbourne Street, SW6 Parsons Green Underground Station: 0.3 miles Newly renovated, reception room, kitchen/dining room, master bedroom en suite with dressing room, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, family room, utility room, guest cloakroom, wine cellar, South-West facing contemporary garden, EPC = C

Freehold | 4,007 sq ft | Price on application

Emma Stead Savills Fulham Parsons Green Residential Sales 020 7731 9420 estead@savills.com

Extraordinary and unique apartment Howick Place, SW1P

St. James's Park Underground Station: 0.3 miles

Exceptional lateral art gallery apartment, 60ft reception room with 16ft ceilings heights, kitchen, 2 en suite bedrooms, 1 further bedroom, 1 further bathroom, study, parking for 2 cars, EPC = D

Leasehold approximately 988 years remaining | 3,578 sq ft | Price on application

Matthew Morton-Smith Savills Westminster Residential Sales 020 3430 6861 mmsmith@savills.com

Stunning first floor apartment Courtfield Gardens, SW5

Gloucester Road Underground Station: 0.4 miles

Reception room, kitchen, 3 en suite bedrooms, further bedroom, guest shower room, study, communal garden, EPC = D

Share of Freehold | 1,902 sq ft | Guide ÂŁ3.75 million

Daniel Carrington Savills Earl's Court Residential sales 020 7578 6901 dan.carrington@savills.com

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Proper partners

Alex

Sam W11

To us, you’re never just clients.

If you’re thinking of selling or letting your home and want a friendly and professional service, contact us today. struttandparker.com 020 3930 2818

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Kings Road, Chelsea SW3 £3,750 per week

Furnished

Roland Way, Kensington SW7 £5,000 per week

Furnished

A stunning four-bedroom house in a secure gated modern development in the heart of Chelsea.

A gorgeous five-bedroom house located on this quiet secure mews in the heart of South Kensington.

2,859 sq ft (265.5 sq m) Two reception rooms | Four bedrooms | Three bathrooms | Roof terrace | Underground parking | Lift | Concierge | EPC rating C

2,557 sq ft (237.6 sq m) Reception room | Family room | Kitchen | Conservatory | Five bedrooms | Five bath/shower rooms | Two cloakrooms | Short let | EPC rating E

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea.lettings@struttandparker.com

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southken@struttandparker.com

Earls Terrace, Kensington W8 £6,750 per week

Colville Gardens, Notting Hill W11 £795 per week

Unfurnished

Furnished

An outstanding Grade II Listed family house, with a south-facing garden, swimming pool and underground parking.

A stunning two-bedroom flat situated in the heart of Notting Hill.

4,883 sq ft (453.65 sq m) Five reception rooms | Kitchen | Five bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Utility room | Swimming pool | Garden | Roof terrace | Porter | Underground parking | Porter | EPC rating C

691 sq ft (64.2 sq m) Entrance hall | Reception room | Kitchen | Two bedrooms | Bathroom | Mezzanine | EPC rating D

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington@struttandparker.com

Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghill@struttandparker.com

*After an offer is accepted by the Landlord, which is subject to contract and acceptable references, the following charges and fees will be payable before the commencement of the tenancy: Preparation of Tenancy Agreement £222 (Inc VAT),

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

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Broomhouse Lane, Fulham SW6 £12,500 per week Flexible furnishings

Montpelier Square, Knightsbridge SW7 £5,250 per week Unfurnished

A spectacular six-bedroom detached family house extending over three floors with amazing views overlooking Hurlingham Park.

An outstanding Grade II Listed townhouse in the heart of Knightsbridge.

9,577 sq ft (889.79 sq m) Kitchen | Reception room | Master bedroom with two dressing rooms and en suite | Five further bedrooms with en suite | Cinema | Swimming pool | Gym | Sauna | Steam room | Study | Utility room | Garden | EPC rating C

4,458 sq ft (414 sq m) Drawing room | Dining room | Family room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Cloakroom | Utility room | Master bedroom with dressing room and en suite bathroom | Four further double bedrooms | Four further bathrooms | Patio | Roof terrace | EPC rating D

Fulham 020 8023 6671 | fulham@struttandparker.com

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridgelettings@struttandparker.com

Limerston Street, Chelsea SW10 £3,995 per week Part Furnished/Unfurnished

Lincoln Street, Chelsea SW3 £2,500 per week

An incredibly stylish five-bedroom house finished to the highest standards with wooden floors throughout and integrated SONOS system.

A beautifully presented three-bedroom house in the heart of Chelsea which offers the perfect blend of traditional and modern.

2,090 sq ft (194.15 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Five bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Hot tub | Sauna | Balcony | Garden | EPC rating D Chelsea SW10 020 3813 9185 | chelseaSW10lettings@struttandparker.com

Unfurnished

Approximately 1,855 sq ft (172.3 sq m) Three reception rooms | Three bedrooms | Three bathrooms | Study | Guest WC | Garden | Residents parking | EPC rating D Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea.lettings@struttandparker.com

References per Tenant £54 (Inc VAT), a deposit – usually between 6-10 weeks of the agreed rent. Any rent advertised is pure rent and does not include any additional services such as council tax, water or utility charges.

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

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Smith Terrace, Chelsea SW3 £5,450,000

Freehold

Albion Mews, Bayswater W2 £3,300,000

Freehold

A beautifully refurbished house, ideally situated on a quiet street south of the King’s Road.

A rare and wonderful four-bedroom mews house with parking, close to Hyde Park.

2,383 sq ft (221.5 sq m) Reception room | Drawing room | Kitchen | Three bedrooms | Three bathrooms | Cinema room | Utility room | Cloakroom | Garden | Patio | EPC rating B

1,874 sq ft (174.1 sq m) Entrance hall | Drawing room | Kitchen/dining room | Four bedrooms | Two bathrooms | Roof terrace | Parking | EPC rating E

Chelsea 020 3504 5588 | chelsea@struttandparker.com

Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghill@struttandparker.com

Yeoman’s Row, Knightsbridge SW3 £5,500,000

Freehold

Lexham Gardens, Kensington W8 £1,450,000

Leasehold

A striking semi-detached freehold house in a secluded Knightsbridge cul-de-sac.

An impressive two-bedroom flat occupying approximately 1,002 sq ft, situated on the top floor of this attractive period building.

2,888 sq ft (268.3 sq m) Entrance hall | Family room | Kitchen | Dining room | Drawing room | Master bedroom suite | Two further bedroom suites | Bedroom four | Shower room | Cinema | Patio | EPC rating E

1,002 sq ft (93 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Further bedroom | Shower room | EPC rating F

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridge@struttandparker.com

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington@struttandparker.com

/struttandparker

@struttandparker

struttandparker.com

60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

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Child’s Street, Earls Court SW5 £1,500,000

Freehold

Ledbury Road, Notting Hill W11 £7,250,000

Freehold

A beautiful two-bedroom cottage in the Earl’s Court Village Conservation area.

A meticulously designed six-bedroom family house, with a cinema and gym, situated moments from Westbourne Grove.

1,000 sq ft (92.9 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Two bedrooms | Bathroom | Guest WC | Garden | EPC rating D

3,963 sq ft (368 sq m) Drawing room | Dining room | Kitchen/family room | Sitting room | Six bedrooms | Four bathrooms | Cinema | Gym | Utility room | Roof terrace | Garden | Two balconies | EPC rating E

South Kensington 020 3504 5901 | southken@struttandparker.com

Notting Hill 020 3773 4114 | nottinghill@struttandparker.com

Bettridge Road, Fulham SW6 £2,500,000

Redcliffe Square, Chelsea SW10 £2,450,000 Share of Freehold

Freehold

A stylish and fully renovated family home with an 18ft south-facing garden.

A striking first floor flat which offers dramatic ceiling height measuring over 3.5 metres and beautiful contemporary interiors.

2,436 sq ft (226 sq m) Drawing room | Dining room | Kitchen | Media room | Five bedrooms | Four bathrooms (two en suite) | Utility room | Cloakroom | Garden | EPC rating D

1,056 sq ft (98 sq m) Reception room | Kitchen | Master bedroom suite | Bedroom | Shower room | Terrace | Garden square access | EPC rating E

Fulham 020 8023 6671 | barclay.macfarlane@struttandparker.com

Chelsea SW10 020 3813 9185 | chelseaSW10@struttandparker.com

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.

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Brunswick Gardens, Kensington W8

ÂŁ4,750,000 Freehold

An impressive five-bedroom stucco fronted family house, occupying approximately 2,989 sq ft, with the advantage of having both a terrace and a garden.

2,989 sq ft (277.7 sq m) Drawing room | Kitchen/breakfast room | Dining room | Sitting room | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Four further bedrooms | Shower room | Further bathroom | Playroom | Study | Cloakroom | Terrace | Garden | EPC rating D

Kensington 020 3813 9477 | kensington@struttandparker.com

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60 Offices across England and Scotland, including prime Central London.

Lyall Mews, Belgravia SW1X

£5,750 per week Furnished

Quietly situated at the far end of Lyall Mews, this outstanding house (circa 3,496 sq ft) features a showpiece Boffi kitchen, great volume and the rare advantage of a lift.

3,496 sq ft (324.8 sq m) Drawing room | Dining room | Sitting room | Kitchen | Utility room | Cloakroom | Master bedroom with en suite bathroom | Three further double bedrooms | Three further bathrooms | Lift | Garage | EPC rating C

Knightsbridge 020 3504 8796 | knightsbridgelettings@struttandparker.com *After an offer is accepted by the Landlord, which is subject to contract and acceptable references, the following charges and fees will be payable before the commencement of the tenancy: Preparation of Tenancy Agreement £222 (Inc VAT), References per Tenant £54 (Inc VAT), a deposit – usually between 6-10 weeks of the agreed rent. Any rent advertised is pure rent and does not include any additional services such as council tax, water or utility charges.

Strutt & Parker is a trading style of BNP Paribas Real Estate Advisory & Property Management UK Limited, which provides a full range of services across the residential, commercial and the rural property sectors.